.^j^:^ir^^ 


^^tOGICAl  %l^'^' 


BX  4917  .K83  1907 
Kuhns,  Oscar,  1856-1929 
John  Huss 


TO:en  nf  t\iz  %xn^Axim 


John  Huss:  The  Witness 


V 
OSCAR  KUHNS,  L.  H.  D. 

Professor  in  Wesleyan  University,  Author 
of  "The  German  and  Swiss  Settle- 
ments of  Pennsylvania,"  "The 
Great  Poets  of  Italy,"  etc. 


CINCINNATI:     JENNINGS    AND    GRAHAM 
NEW   YORK:    EATON    AND    MAINS 


Copyright,   1907,  by 
Jennings  &  Graham 


€xj:    tit*    ^:^mitT^    itf 

Jig  ^uihtT, 

WHlxnm    3,   ^itJbtts, 

Born  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  January  23,  1823. 

Died  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 

June  27,  1885. 


PREFACE 


In  writing  this  book  my  aim  has  been  to  give 
a  plain,  straightforward,  and  concise  account  of 
the  Hfe,  death,  and  influence  of  one  of  the  world's 
most  inspiring  witnesses  of  the  truth.  In  so 
doing  I  have  used  the  standard  authorities — those 
which  form  the  basis  of  every  modern  discus- 
sion of  the  life  of  John  Huss.  For  the  oppor- 
tunity to  use  the  most  indispensable  of  all  these 
authorities  —  Von  der  Hardt's  Rerum  Concilii 
Constantiensis,  tomus  IV,  Palacky's  Geschichte 
von  Bohmen,  and  the  same  author's  Documenta 
Mag.  Johannis  Hus  Vitam,  doctrinam  .  .  .  illus- 
trantia — I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  the  Li- 
brarian of  Harvard  University.  In  quoting  from 
the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Constance— al- 
though I  have  had  Von  der  Hardt  constantly  on 
hand  for  reference — I  have  used  Lenfant's  His- 
tory of  the  Council  of  Constance,  which  is  largely 
a  translation  of  the  former. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Preface,        ------  5 

I.    Forerunners  of  the  Reformation,  -  9 

11.    Political,  Social,   and  Religious  Con- 
ditions IN  Bohemia,  -         -         -  24 

III.  Early  Life  and  Activity  of  Huss,  -       39 

IV.  Huss  AND  the  Roman  Hierarchy,     -  6^ 
V.    Huss  IN  Exile,      -         -         -         -  -       79 

VI.    Huss  Goes  to  Constance,         -         -  90 

VII.    Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Death  of 

Huss,     -         -         -                  -    •  -     105 

VIII.    The  Wars  of  the  Hussites,      -         -  137 

IX.    Conclusion,           -         -         -         -  -     165 


John  Huss:  The  Witness 

CHAPTER  I. 
FORERUNNERS  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 

The:  materials  for  a  life  of  John  Huss  are  com- 
paratively meager.  Practically  nothing  is  known 
of  his  early  years,  and  the  biographer  is  confined 
to  the  narration  of  the  oft-repeated  story  of  hi<s 
quarrel  with  the  Roman  hierarchy  and  his  trial, 
condemnation,  and  execution  at  Constance,  together 
with  a  more  or  less  complete  analysis  of  his  re- 
formatory teachings. 

Yet  Huss  occupies  a  peculiar  position  in  the 
history  of  the  development  of  evangelical  religion. 
In  many  respects  he  may  be  said  to  have  begun 
the  Reformation;  and  if  circumstances  had  been 
favorable,  Hussitism  and  not  Lutheranism  might 
have  been  the  great  antagonist  of  Roman  Cathol- 
icism throughout  the  succeeding  centuries. 

This  was  not  to  be.  A  combination  of  circum- 
stances— historical,  social,  and  religious — prevented 
Huss,  as  they  had  prevented  Wyclif  a  few  years 

9 


lo  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

before,  from  becoming  the  leader  of  modern  Prot- 
estantism. The  world  had  still  to  wait  a  hundred 
years  before  the  final  break  of  the  great  schism  was 
to  occur.  Yet  if  Huss  was  not  the  first  of  the  new 
dispensation,  the  founder  of  a  new  religion,  he  was 
the  most  influential,  as  he  was  the  last  of  the  fore- 
runners of  the  Reformation.  He  was  literally  the 
morning-star  which  led  the  way  to  the  full  day- 
light of  evangelical  doctrine,  which,  through  the 
influence  of  Luther,  has  spread  over  the  whole 
world. 

It  is  a  natural  tendency  to  look  upon  all  great 
movements,  as  suddenly  bursting  forth,  without  any 
previous  announcement.  It  was  long  thought  that 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  the  work  of 
a  few  men  of  genius,  such  as  Thomas  Jefferson, 
John  Adams,  and  others,  instead  of  being  what 
modern  historical  investigation  has  shown  it  to  be, 
the  fruit  of  ages  of  slow  development,  reaching 
maturity  under  the  favorable  conditions  of  a  new 
climate  and  a  virgin  soil.  American  freedom  is 
not  the  invention  of  one  man  or  of  many  men,  but 
the  end-result  of  a  process  ''slowly  broadening 
down,  from  precedent  to  precedent." 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Reformation.  It 
is  not  entirely  the  work  of  Luther  or  Zwingli  or 
Calvin ;  the  times  and  even  the  seasons  were  ripe — 
Paul  had  planted,  Apollos  watered,  and  God  gave 
the  increase. 

The    root-idea    of    Protestantism    is    a    protest 


Forerunners  of  the  Reformation.         ii 

against  the  great  hierarchy  of  Rome,  against  the 
substitution    of    rites    and    ceremonies    for    heart- 
rehgion ;  against  the  abuse  of  priestly  power,  espe- 
cially in  the  selling  of  spiritual  benefits  for  money. 
In  Luther  these  things  were  summed  up,  first,  in 
the  great  doctrine  that  "the  just  shall  live  by  faith," 
which  he  opposed  to  the  great  mass  of  works  of 
supererogation ;  and  secondly,  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
authority  of  the   Bible,   which  he  opposed  to  the 
claim   of  papal   infallibility.     But,   after   all,   there 
was  little  that  was  new  in  these  doctrines  of  Luther. 
They  had  severally  and  collectively  been  promul- 
gated time  and  time  again  by  holy  men  throughout 
the  Dark  and  Middle  Ages,  until  we  reach  John 
Huss,  by  whom  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  if  not 
justification  by  faith,  was  once  for  all  laid  down 
as   an  incontrovertible   fact.     It  is,   therefore,   not 
without  value,— nay,  it  is  the  only  reasonable  way 
to  make  Huss's  work  stand  out  in  bold  relief,— to 
trace  the  development  of  Protestant  doctrines  up 
to  his  time. 

"The  Christian  religion,"  says  Professor  Har- 
nack,  "is  something  simple  and  subUme;  it  means 
one  thing  and  one  only— eternal  life  in  the  midst 
of  time,  by  the  strength  and  under  the  eyes  of 
God."  And  this  religion  is  contained  entire  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  concerning— first,  the 
"Kingdom  of  God  and  its  coming;  secondly,  God 
the  Father  and  the  infinite  value  of  the  human  soul ; 
thirdly,  the  higher  righteousness  and  the  command- 


12  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

ment  of  love."  *'His  message,"  continues  Professor 
Harnack,  "is  great  and  powerful,  because  so  simple 
and  yet  so  rich ;  so  simple  as  to  be  exhausted  in  each 
of  the  leading  thoughts  he  uttered;  so  rich  that 
every  one  of  these  thoughts  seems  inexhaustible 
and  the  full  meaning  of  the  sayings  and  parables 
beyond  our  reacK.  He  himself  stands  behind  every- 
thing he  said.  His  words  speak  to  us  across  the 
centuries  with  the  freshness  of  the  present.  The 
kingdom  of  God  comes  by  coming  to  the  individ- 
ual, by  entering  into  his  soul  and  laying  hold  of  it. 
It  is  the  rule  of  the  holy  God  in  the  hearts  of  in- 
dividuals. It  is  God  Himself,  in  His  power.  This 
is  seen  in  all  Jesus'  parables.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  angels  or  devils,  thrones  and  principalities,  but 
of  God  and  the  soul,  the  soul  and  its  God." 

Such  is  the  essence  of  the  Christian  religion, 
as  described  by  one  of  the  foremost  theologians 
of  the  day.  It  needs  no  words  of  mine  to  point  out 
the  vast  difference  between  this  view  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  and  that  held  for  so  many  centuries  and 
even  to-day  by  the  Roman  Church. 

The  teaching  of  Jesus,  simple  as  it  is  and  per- 
fect in  its  purity,  was  yet  promulgated  in  a  world 
incapable  of  taking  it  at  once  and  assimilating  it 
to  itself.  Like  all  things  else  it  had  to  grow  and 
develop ;  it  had  to  overcome  obstacles,  many  and 
powerful,  before  it  could  become  universally  ac- 
cepted and  be  put  into  practice.  In  the  course  of 
the  struggle  it  became  changed  itself,  and  for  a 


Forerunners  of  the  Reformation.         13 

time  seemed  almost  to  have  lost  its  primitive  purity. 
There  is  no  more  striking  phenomenon,  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  than  the  gradual  transformation 
of  the  simple  gospel  of  Christ  into  the  world-over- 
shadowing hierachical  system  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Christ  taught  that 
God  was  a  spirit,  yet  by  a  certain  kind  of  return 
to  paganism  we  see  this  divine  spirit  localized  and 
materialized  in  the  images  of  the  saints  and  in  the 
deification  of  the  priest,  and  especially  of  the  pope. 
Again,  we  see  the  freedom  of  the  spirit,  the  grace 
and  love  and  mercy  of  God  the  Father,  give  way 
to  Pelagianism,  ''the  theory  of  salvation  by  works, 
adhesion  to  doctrinal  formula,  sacramental  usage, 
priestly  'absolution,  outward  mortification,  and 
monkish  asceticism." 

In  consequence  of  these  influences,  very  early 
a  great  change  came  over  the  Church.  An  eccle- 
siastical community  was  formed,  clergy  and  laymen 
were  separated,  the  doctrine  was  firmly  established 
that  only  through  priestly  mediation  could  men 
approach  God.  Faith  was  changed  to  creed,  and 
love  for  Christ  was  replaced  by  loyalty  to  the 
Church.  It  was  claimed  and  universally  admitted 
that  God  had  deputed  His  powers  and  prerogatives 
to  the  pope  and  the  hierarchy,  and  little  by  little 
the  gospel  became  no  longer  one  of  hope  and  love, 
but  of  fear.  It  is  no  use  to  utter  diatribes  against 
this  state  of  things.  It  was  the  necessary  historical 
result  of  the  confusion  produced  by  the  coming 


14  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

together  of  elements  so  powerful  and  so  diverse  as 
paganism,  Judaism,  and  Christianity,  to  which  we 
may  add  the  element  of  barbarism  injected  into  the 
seething  mass  by  the  Teutonic  nations  during  the 
period  of  the  Volkerwanderung. 

It  was  only  by  compromise  that  Christianity 
could  maintain  the  unequal  fight;  only  by  substi- 
tuting saint-worship  for  idolatry,  and  retaining  the 
spectacular  charm  of  incense  and  candles ;  only 
by  adapting  to  itself  the  tremendous  prestige  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  that  it  was  able  to  become  the 
carrying  agent  of  the  teachings  of  Christ  down  the 
centuries. 

But  while  this  was  so,  there  have  been  all  along 
men  and  sects  who  have  regarded  the  materializa- 
tion of  the  Roman  Church  with  distrust  and  dis- 
favor ;  who  have  looked  back  with  longing  toward 
the  primitive  simplicity  of  the  apostolic  times,  and 
sought  to  bring  the  Church  of  Rome  away  from  its 
idolatry  back  to  the  simple  doctrines  of  Christ.  The 
essence  of  Protestantism  is  the  clearing  away  from 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus  of  the  barnacles 
of  superstition,  formalism,  and  lust  of  power. 
And  this  effort  had  been  going  on  for  centuries 
before  the  Reformation,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church 
itself,  generally,  although  not  always,  under  the 
stigma  of  heresy.  All  along  there  had  been  men 
whose  lives  vv^ere  filled  with  spiritual  powef,  such 
as  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  and  espe- 
cially St.  Augustine.    No  more  beautiful  scene  ex- 


FORDRUNNERS   OF   THE)   REFORM ATION.  1 5 

ists  in  religious  literature  than  that  described  by 
St.  Augustine  in  his  Confessions,  when  he  and  his 
mother,  a  few  days  before  her  death,  leaning  on 
the  window  of  their  lodgings  at  Ostia,  discoursed 
together  with  a  marvelous  sweetness  of  spiritual 
things,  their  hearts  strangely  warmed  within  them 
as  they  talked  of  God  and  the  soul. 

Undoubtedly,  then,  all  through  the  Dark  and 
Middle  Ages  there  were  individuals  still  filled  with 
the  simple  religion  of  the  apostolic  days. 

It  is  not,  however,  till  we  reach  the  twelfth 
century  that  we  find  regular  organized  and  widely 
spread  sects  within  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  who 
were  looked  upon  by  the  hierarchy  as  dangerous. 
The  most  notorious  of  these  were  the  Cathari,  who, 
in  addition  to  the  old  IManichasan  doctrine  of  the 
good  and  the  evil  principle  in  the  universe,  a  doc- 
trine which  often  led  them  to  the  most  fanatical 
vagaries,  demanded  that  the  Church  should  return 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  apostolic  times,  opposed  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  pope,  declared  infant  bap- 
tism to  be  absurd,  would  fain  abolish  rich  churches, 
mass,  and  the  priesthood,  lived  lives  of  asceticism, 
refused  to  take  oaths,  and  repudiated  auricular 
confession.  They  lasted  from  the  eleventh  to  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  were  largely  represented  in 
Southern  France,  Northern  Italy,  and  Germany 
(not  in  England),  reaching  their  high-water  mark 
about  the  year  1200.  From  the  town  of  Albi,  in 
Southern  France,  where  they  w^ere  especially  nu- 


i6  John  Huss:  The:  Witni<ss. 

merous,  they  received  the  name  of  Albigensians. 
No  more  terrible  example  of  the  odium  theologicum 
can  be  found  in  history  than  the  Albigensian  cru- 
sade, which  was  started  by  St.  Dominic  and  car- 
ried out  to  its  bitter  end  by  Simon  de  Montfort. 
At  Carcassonne  four  hundred  were  burnt  alive,  and 
at  the  siege  of  Beziers  the  papal  legate  Arnold, 
when  asked  how  they  should  recognize  the  faithful 
from  the  heretics,  cried,  ''Kill,  kill,  the  Lord  will 
know  His  own." 

Still  more  famous  and  far  more  influential  on 
later  reformers  were  the  Waldensians.  Some  say 
that  they  were  the  same  as  the  Cathari.  However 
this  may  be,  the  movement  seems  to  have  been 
started  in  1160  by  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons  (hence 
his  followers  were  also  called  Poor  Men  of  Lyons). 
They  differ  from  the  Cathari  in  rejecting  the  Mani- 
chasan  doctrine  of  good  and  evil  spirits.  Their 
beliefs  and  customs  were  not  unlike  those  of  the 
modern  Quakers.  They  refused  to  take  oaths,  re- 
pudiated capital  punishment,  claimed  the  right  of 
the  laity  to  consecrate  the  host,  thus  rendering  un- 
necessary a  regularly  ordained  priesthood,  and 
boldly  proclaimed  their  belief  that  the  Roman 
Church  was  not  the  Church  of  Christ.  They 
agreed  with  the  Cathari  in  using  the  New  Testa- 
ment alone  as  the  basis  of  their  conduct,  con- 
demned the  possession  of  all  property,  denied  the 
temporal  power  of  the  pope,  and  declared  that  the 
existing  Church  was  not  necessary  to  the  worship 
of  God. 


Fori<:runne;rs  of  thk  Rkformation. 


17 


It  has  been  claimed  that  the  Waldensians  orig- 
inated in  apostolic  times.  This  is  not  true,  yet  the 
slow  preparation  for  their  doctrines  was  the  work 
of  ages,  and  many  of  the  prominent  tenets  can  be 
found  in  the  preceding  centuries. 

The  Waldensians  were  subjected  to  fierce  per- 
secutions, were  driven  out  of  France,  fled  to  the 
mountains  of  Northern  Italy,  where  their  descend- 
ants still  exist,  and  even  went  so  far  as  Germany 
and  Bohemia.  In  this  latter  country  they  undoubt- 
edly exerted  some  influence  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  great  Hussite  movement  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  After  the  Reformation  they  became  part 
of  the  Reformed  branch  of  Protestantism.  To-day 
they  are  ma4^ing  a  determined  effort  to  evangelize 
Italy. 

Among  the  most  revolutionary  of  mediaeval 
heretics  was  Arnold  of  Brescia  (died  in  1155), 
who  boldly  opposed  the  claims  to  universal  over- 
lordship  on  the  part  of  the  pope,  and  declared  that 
in  order  that  the  world  should  live  in  peace  the 
Church  must  return  to  the  purity  and  simplicity  of 
apostolic  times.  Still  further  went  Almaric  of  Bena 
(died  in  1209),  who  declared  that  as  the  law  of 
the  Old  Testament  had  been  abolished  by  Christ, 
so  at  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  reign  of 
the  Son  Avould  cease.  He  repudiated  the  baptism 
of  children,  the  worship  of  saints,  use  of  images 
and  relics,  and  the  confession.  He  declared  that 
the  only  thing  necessary  v/as  to  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Spirit. 


i8  John  Huss:  The:  Witni:ss. 

All  the  above-mentioned  reformers  were  stig- 
matized as  heretics.  Their  doctrines  were  anathe- 
matized by  the  Church,  they  themselves  were  ex- 
communicated and  persecuted  with  all  the  cruelty 
that  the  human  mind  could  invent.  Yet  withhi  the 
bosom  of  the  Church  itself  arose  from  time  to  time 
men  who  had  in  many  respects  the  same  doctrines, 
and  yet  whQ  remained  loyal  and  obedient  to  the  es- 
tablished order  of  the  Church.  One  of  the  strangest 
of  these  men  was  Joachim  da  Fiore, — 

*'  Di  spirito  profetico  dotato," 

according  to  whom  there  were  three  periods  to  the 
history  of  the  world — the  first  period,  that  of  the 
Father,  was  represented  by  the  Old  Testament; 
the  second,  that  of  the  Son,  was  represented  by 
the  New  Testament;  the  third,  that  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  was  to  begin  in  1260,  when  mankind  should 
become  purified,  all  selfishness  should  disappear, 
and  men  should  no  longer  struggle  for  the  pos- 
session of  worldly  goods. 

The  influence  of  Joachim  in  the  following  cen- 
turies was  enormous,  and  was  largely  responsible 
for  the  many  prophecies  and  visions  that  mark  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  His  true  fol- 
lowers, however,  were  among  the  branch  of  the 
Franciscan  order  known  as  the   Spirituals. 

In  view  of  the  widespread  interest  in  St.  Fran- 
cis in  recent  times,  and  the  number  of  popular  dis- 
cussions of  his  life,  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to 


Forerunne:rs  of  the  Rki'ormation.         19 

say  much  of  him  here.  And  yet  in  many  points  of 
his  own  life,  and  especially  in  the  development  of 
certain  branches  of  the  order  founded"  by  him,  St. 
Francis  had  no  small  influence  in  preparing  the 
way  for  a  religion  of  the  heart  as  opposed  to  one 
of  mere  form.  After  his  death  his  order  was  split 
up  into  factions — the  Conventuals,  composed  of 
those  who  demanded  a  liberal  interpretation  of  his 
rule ;  the  Fraticelli,  who  demanded  a  rigid  inter- 
pretation of  the  same;  and  finally  the  Spirituals, 
the  most  radical  of  all,  who  adopted  the  prophecies 
of  Joachim  da  Fiore,  expected  the  final  triumph  of 
poverty  and  the  total  renovation  of  the  world  under 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

While  in  general  the  various  monastic  orders 
became  more  and  more  corrupt,  yet  there  were 
formed  in  the  fourteenth  century,  especially  in 
Germany,  many  groups  of  persons  in  the  Fran- 
ciscan, Dominican,  and  Augustinian  orders,  whose 
conduct  and  aspirations  were  not  unlike  those  of 
the  Pietists  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Through 
them  a  deep  revival  of  spiritual  religion  swept 
through  Germany,  whose  influence  was  closely  con- 
nected with  the  beginnings  of  Luther's  Reforma- 
tion. 

Chief  among  them  was  Eckhart,  who  flourished 
about  the  year  1325.  He  had  close  relations  with 
the  Beghards  and  the  Brothers  of  the  Free  Spirit. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  speculative  talent,  and  laid 
down  the  lines  of  German  mysticism  which  were 


20  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

followed  by  all  succeeding  mystics.  He  preached 
in  German  on  the  actual  work  of  the  spirit  in 
the  heart.  Yet  he  was  not  like  so  many  mystics 
who  sought  only  their  own  pleasure  in  the  ecstasy 
of  contemplation  and  the  iinio  mystica.  With  the 
practical  good  sense  of  the  German  character, 
which  is  so  often  combined  with  deep  religious 
feeling,  Eckhart  saw  the  danger  of  allowing  con- 
templation to  degenerate  into  selfishness.  It  should 
be  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  source  of  comfort 
and  strength  to  meet  the  battles  of  life.  His  doc- 
trine is  summed  up  in  the  beautiful  words,  "What 
a  man  has  taken  in  by  contemplation,  he  pours  out 
in  love." 

Among  Eckhart's  immediate  followers  were 
Ruysbroeck — the  Doctor  Ecstaticus — and  Henry  of 
Suso.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
figures  in  Pre-reformation  Church  history.  He 
was  born  in  1295  at  Uberlingen  on  Lake  Constance, 
not  far  from  Constance,  where  a  little  over  one 
hundred  years  later  John  Huss  suffered  martyr- 
dom. 

With  John  Tauler  we  enter  into  close  touch 
with  the  Protestant  Reformation.  His  influence 
on  Luther  is  well  known.  He  was  born  in  Stras- 
bourg about  1300,  was  a  Dominican  friar,  and  was 
in  constant  communication  with  the  Friends  of  God 
in  Bale.  He  was  especially  famous  as  a  preacher, 
and  everywhere  was  listened  to  by  multitudes.  His 
sermons   were   full   of   deep   spiritual   power,   and 


FORKRUNNKRS   OF   THE)   Re:FORMATION.  21 

came  from  a  heart  full  of  love  for  God  and  man. 
The  real  kernel  of  his  teaching  is  the  indwelling 
of  God  in  the  soul,  and  his  wonderful  success  was 
due  to  his  own  deep  religious  experience.  As  he 
himself  said,  "No  man  can  teach  what  he  has  not 
lived  through  himself."  His  influence  is  well-known 
on  Luther,  who  in  his  early  days  of  discontent 
with  his  religious  experience  was  advised  by  the 
Director-General  Staupitz  to  read  Tauler's  sermons, 
and  found  much  comfort  therein. 

The  greatest  influence  exerted  on  Luther,  how- 
ever, was  by  a  little  book  which  fell  into  his  hands, 
and  which  he  wrongly  thought  to  be  the  work  of 
Tauler,  and  of  which  he  published  an  edition  under 
the  title  of  Theologia  Deutsch.  It  was  a  treatise 
on  heart-religion,  and  its  object  was  to  give  a 
practical  turn  to  the  teachings  of  Eckhart.  It 
shows  how  sin  in  its  essence  is  selfishness,  and 
how  the  only  way  to  get  near  to  God  is  to  rise 
above  the  I  and  the  Me.  All  these  German  mys- 
tics of  the  fourteenth  century,  however,  remained 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  and  confined  them- 
selves to  the  exemplification  and  promulgation  of 
a  pure  emotional  religion,  combined  with  an  ascetic 
manner  of  living.  They  carefully  refrained  from 
criticising  the  Church  itself,  either  in  its  doctrines 
or  its  outer  form  and  observances. 

Although  all  the  above-mentioned  forerunners 
of  the  Reformation  had  so  many  ideas  in  common 
with  those  of  Huss  and  Luther,  yet  the  connection 


22  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

is  only  occasional,  by  no  means  organic.  With 
Wyclif,  however,  we  begin  the  definite  chain 
of  events  which,  passing  through  Huss,  found  a 
culmination  in  Luther,  Zwingll,  and  Calvin.  John 
Wyclif  was  born  In  Yorkshire,  England,  In  1320; 
was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  became  one  of  the 
ablest  philosophers  of  his  day.  Although  the  uni- 
versal sway  of  Scholasticism  had  passed  away,  yet 
the  old  bitter  hostility  between  the  Nominalists  and 
Realists  still  continued.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  theory  of  Nominalism  was  more  akin  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Reformation,  Wyclif  himself  was  a 
Realist.  It  was  through  his  philosophy  that  he 
first  became  known  in  Bohemia,  and  strange  as  it 
may  seem  to  us  to-day,  the  fact  that  Huss  was  a 
follower  of  the  Realistic  philosophy  of.  Wyclif  had 
a  powerful  Influence  In  bringing  about  his  destruc- 
tion. 

The  condition  of  the  Church  filled  Wyclif  with 
disgust  and  indignation.  The  year  1378  was  the 
turning  point  In  his  career,  owing  to  the  schism 
brought  about  by  the  election,  In  September  of 
that  year,  of  Clement  VII  in  opposition  to  Urban 
VI.  He  attacked  the  whole  principle  of  the  papacy, 
as  the  root  of  all  evils  which  then  burdened  Chris- 
tendom. He  translated  the  Bible  Into  English 
prose,  sent  forth  a  number  of  poor  priests  to  teach 
the  gospel  to  the  people,  all  of  which  produced  a 
profound  commotion  throughout  England.  On  the 
one  hand  the  common  people  heard  them  gladly, 


Forerunners  of  the  Reeormation.         23 

on  the  other  the  rich  and  influential  clergy  were 
filled  with  rage  and  hate. 

Among  the  epoch-making  teachings  of  Wyclif 
which  later  were  taken  up  more  or  less  completely 
by  the  various  sects  of  Protestantism  were  the  fol- 
lowing: Sin  deprives  a  man  from  possessing  any- 
thing ;  all  property  should  be  held  in  common ;  spir- 
itual power  should  be  entirely  separate  from  the 
civil ;  the  Church  should  hold  no  property ;  excom- 
munication was  of  no  effect,  except  the  subject  of 
it  were  in  sin,  and  in  no  case  should  it  be  promul- 
gated for  any  offense  connected  with  temporal  af- 
fairs. He  denied  transubstantiation,  -holding  the 
same  doctrine  ^s  Luther  did  later — consubstanti- 
ation.  As  we  shall  see  later,  some  of  these  doctrines 
Huss  accepted,  others  not.  Wyclif  escaped  martyr- 
dom in  his  lifetime.  His  doctrine  concerning  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  published  in  1381 ;  it  was  con- 
demned by  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  a  Council 
was  called  to  try  him.  Though  he  was  cited  to  ap- 
pear at  Rome,  he  never  went.  He  was  struck  with 
paralysis  December  28,  1384,  and  died  on  New- 
Year's  eve.  In  141 5  his  works  were  condemned  by 
the  Council  of  Constance,  and  in  1428  his  body  was 
dug  up  and  burned.  His  influence  did  not  last 
long  in  England,  but  through  Huss  his  doctrines 
became  known  to  Luther,  and  played  an  important 
part  in  the  great  movement  of  the  Reformation  on 
the  Continent. 


CHAPTER  II. 

POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  RELIGIOUS 
CONDITIONS  OF  BOHEMIA. 

The  Reformation  inaugurated  by  John  Huss 
and  the  events  which  followed  thereupon  can  not 
be  clearly  understood  without  some  general  idea  of 
the  state  of  politics,  society,  and  religion  in  Bo- 
hemia towards  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century; 
nor  can  these  conditions  themselves  be  understood 
without  some  idea  of  their  gradual  development. 
Only  by  reference  to  the  national  history  can  we 
get  a  clear  conception  of  the  complex  problems 
involved  in  the  whole  movement  of  Hussitism.  We 
must  know  once  for  all  that  this  movement  was 
not  the  work  of  one  man,  however  powerful  his 
influence  was,  but  it  was  intimately  connected  with 
national  and  religious  traditions.  The  patriotism 
of  a  race  threatened  with  being  swamped  by  for- 
eign immigration,  joined  to  the  tenacity  with  which 
all  men  cling  to  the  customs  of  their  fathers,  made 
Bohemia  a  fertile  soil  for  the  doctrines  of  the 
Waldensians  and  Wyclif  to  take  root  and  grow  up. 
Contemporary  events,  imperial  and  papal  schisms, 
the  general  corruption  of  the  Church,  all  reached 
a  climax  just  at  the  time  when  a  man  was  sent  of 

24 


Conditions  in  Bohe:mia.  25 

God  to  teach  the  truth  and  become  the  leader  of 
countless  thousands. 

The  Bohemians  are  of  Slavic  origin.  The  land 
itself  was  first  inhabited  by  a  Celtic  race,  the  Boii, 
then  by  a  German  race,  the  Marcomanni,  who, 
driven  out  by  the  Huns,  settled  in  the  land  now 
known  as  Bavaria.  The  Slavs,  who  were  alHes  of 
the  Huns,  settled  in  the  land  left  vacant  by  the 
Marcomanni. 

For  long  centuries  the  country  was  ruled  by 
native  kings,  but  in  1310  the  male  line  died  out, 
and  as  the  sister  of  Wenzel,  the  last  of  the  Slavs, 
had  married  John,  a  son  of  Henry  VII  of  Luxem- 
bourg, a  German  dynasty  was  seated  on  the  throne 
of  Bohemia.  Thus  the  land  became  intimately 
connected  with  the  various  fortunes  of  Germany, 
and  when  Charles  IV,  who  had  become  king  in 
1346,  was  elected  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  Bohemia  was  drawn  likewise  into  the  com- 
plex relations  of  imperial  politics. 

The  history  of  Bohemia  during  all  this  time 
had  been  one  of  almost  unceasing  progress  in  pros- 
perity. The  native  kings,  such  as  Ottocar  I  (1198- 
1230)  and  Otto  III  (1253-1278),  had  raised  the 
country  to  a  position  of  influence  throughout  the 
whole  of  Western  Europe.  But  it  was  especially 
through  Charles  IV  that  Bohemia  reached  its  cli- 
max of  prosperity.  According  to  Palacky  he  was 
"the  most  popular  king  who  ever  ruled  in  Bohemia. 
To  this  day  every  Bohemian  heart  warms  at  tlie 


26  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

mention  of  his  name,  and  all  lips  overflow  with 
reverence  and  gratitude  toward  the  memory  of  a 
ruler  who,  in  the  tradition  of  the  people,  has  be- 
come the  representative  of  the  highest  glory  and 
prosperity  of  his  fatherland."  The  emperor 
seemed  to  have  a  special  love  for  the  land  of  his 
mother,  and  he  devoted  his  best  interests  toward 
building  it  up.  He  made  it  strong  financially,  im- 
proved agriculture,  commerce,  and  industry,  fa- 
vored the  arts  and  sciences,  regulated  justice, 
morals,  and  religion.  It  was  he  that  made  Prague 
the  beautiful  city  it  is  to-day.  He  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  famous  Karlsbriicke,  and  built  many 
churches  and  castles.  vEneas  Sylvius,  who  after- 
ward became  Pope  Pius  H,  declared  that  he  had 
seen  no  land  which  could  compare  with  Bohemia 
in  the  number  and  magnificence  of  its  buildings. 
The  most  important  event  of  Charles's  activity 
in  this  respect,  and  one  of  the  deepest  importance 
for  the  work  of  Huss,  was  the  founding  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Prague,  April  7,  1348.  This  was  the  first 
of  the  German  universities,  and  became  almost  im- 
mediately the  Mecca  of  students  from  all  parts  of 
Northern  Europe.  They  came  even  from  France 
and  England.  In  1408  the  number  of  students  is 
said  to  have  amounted  to  thirty  thousand.  It  was 
organized  after  the  model  of  the  University  of 
Paris,  consisted  of  four  faculties, — Theology,  Law, 
Medicine,  and  Philosophy;  and  was  divided  into 
four  "nations" — the  Bohemian  (including  Moravia 


Conditions  in  Bohemia.  27 

and  Hungary),  Bavarian  (including  Austria, 
Swabia,  Franconia,  and  the  Rhineland),  Polish  (in- 
cluding Silesia,  Lithuania,  and  Russia),  and  Saxon 
(including  Thuringia,  Upper  and  Lower  Saxony, 
Denmark  and  Sweden).  It  will  be  noticed  in  the 
above  arrangement  that  the  Bohemians  were  far 
outnumbered  by  foreigners  of  various  sorts,  and 
especially  by  the  Germans.  This  was  to  have  an 
important  effect  on  the  reformatory  movement 
started  by  Huss  a  few  years  later. 

In  order  to  understand  the  violent  passions 
aroused  by  this  movement,  we  must  now  cast  a 
glance  at  the  religions  and  racial  conditions  of 
Bohemia.  Ottacar  II  had  brought  large  numbers 
of  German  colonists  to  Bohemia,  and  thus  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  inevitable  struggle  between  Slavs 
and  Teutons  which  became  later  so  fierce  and  bit- 
ter. These  Germans  were  largely  increased  in 
numbers  after  the  accession  of  Charles  IV  to  the 
throne,  and  especially  after  the  founding  of  the 
University  of  Prague.  Of  the  vast  number  of  stu- 
dents who  flocked  to  Prague  the  majority  were 
Germans,  and  they  naturally  made  use  of  their 
numerical  superiority  to  monopolize  the  power  in 
all  university  matters. 

Not  only  in  scholastic  affairs,  however,  did  the 
Germans  dispute  the  lead  with  the  Bohemians,  but 
in  commerce,  business,  and  even  municipal  govern- 
ment. Prague  was  crowded  with  German  mer- 
chants and  bankers,  who  threatened  to  swamp  the 


28  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

less  strenuous  Slavic  element.  Hence  arose  bitter 
strife,  engendered  by  jealousy,  patriotism,  and  race 
hatred. 

Closely  connected  with  these  racial  differences 
were  the  problems  raised  by  religious  and  eccle- 
siastical conditions.  The  Bohemians  had  been  con- 
verted to  Christianity  much  later  than  the  other 
nations  of  Europe,  and  when  they  were  thus  con- 
verted it  was  not  by  such  wholesale  and  violent 
means  as  we  observe  in  the  case  of  the  Franks 
and  Saxons.  The  chief  influence  had  come  from 
Constantinople,  and  of  especial  importance  were  the 
labors  of  the  two  brothers,  Cyril  and  Method,  from 
Thessalonica,  the  great  apostles  of  the  Slavic  coun- 
tries. To  them  must  be  ascribed  the  glory  of  con- 
verting the  Bohemians  and  Moravians. 

This  Slavic  origin  of  the  Bohemian  Church 
gave  a  decided  turn  to  its  customs,  traditions,  and 
doctrines,  and  thus  formed  an  important,  though 
vague,  element  of  the  Hussite  movement.  In  the 
first  place,  no  foreign  tongue  had  been  imposed 
upon  them  in  the  church  services,  as  the  Latin  had 
been  in  the  Roman  Church.  A  much  greater  free- 
dom and  independence  was  allowed,  as  for  instance 
the  fact  that  the  priests  were  at  liberty  to  marry. 
In  outward  forms  little  effort  was  made  to  burden 
the  people  with  useless  ceremonies  and  extortionate 
tithes.  Such  was  the  condition  of  things  in  the  early 
times.  But  this  condition  was  to  undergo  a  slow 
but  steady  change  as  soon  as  the  Bohemian  Church 


Conditions  in  Bohkmia.  29 

was  united  to  that  of  Rome.  When  in  the  tenth 
:entury  the  Magyars  attacked  Bohemia,  both  it  and 
Aloravia  were  forced  to  seek  protection  of  the  Ger- 
man emperor,  and  thus  a  close  degree  of  relations 
was  established  between  the  two  countries,  one  re- 
sult of  which  was  the  merging  of  the  Bohemian 
Church  into  that  of  Rome.  The  numerous  German 
colonists  who,  from  the  eleventh  century  on,  flowed 
into  Bohemia,  and  brought  with  them  their  customs, 
laws,  and  government,  naturally  brought  it  about 
that  the  German  form  of  service — i.  e.,  that  of  the 
Roman  Church — gradually  superseded  that  of  the 
Slavs. 

Yet  the  people  themselves  only  slowly  yielded 
to  this  gradual  displacement,  especially  as  it  meant 
the  giving  up  of  their  freedom  and  independence, 
the  substitution  of  Latin  for  their  native  tongue 
in  service  and  sermons,  the  taking  away  of  the  in- 
dividual cup  from  the  people  in  the  Eucharist,  and 
the  burden  of  insatiable  calls  for  tribute  on  the 
part  of  Rome.  As  many  of  the  higher  clergy  were 
Germans,  we  can  easily  see  how  these  two  elements, 
religious  and  national,  tended  to  keep  the  common 
people  in  a  state  of  protest  against  the  Church,  a 
state  which  later  was  changed  to  fanaticism  by  the 
course  of  events. 

It  has  been  a  much  discussed  question  as  to 
where  John  Huss  got  his  reformatory  ideas.  Some 
have  declared  that  the  Waldensians,  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  France  and  who  were  scattered  over 


30  John  Huss:  The:  Witni:ss. 

all  Northern  Europe,  Bohemia  among  the  rest, 
sowed  the  seed  of  the  evangelical  movement,  which 
Huss  made  his  own.  Recent  writers  have  shown 
that  there  is  but  little  basis  of  truth  in  this  theory, 
although  doubtless  Waldensian  doctrines  did  affect 
Hussitism,  especially  the  different  sects  into  which 
it  was  split  up  after  the  death  of  Huss.  A  much 
stronger  case  has  been  made  out  by  those  who 
claim  that  Huss  only  transplanted  the  doctrines  of 
Wyclif  from  England  to  Bohemia.  Yet  this  bald 
statement,  leaving  out  of  consideration  all  indige- 
nous events,  goes  too  far.  There  is  no  doubt  of 
the  vast  influence  of  Wyclif  on  Bohemian  thinkers. 
Huss's  works  are  more  or  less  justly  said  to  be  a 
cento  of  extracts  from  those  of  Wyclif,  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  Huss  would  have  been  burned, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  condemnation  of  Wyclif's 
doctrines  by  the  Council  of  Constance. 

The  relations  between  the  two  countries  were 
close;  Anna,  sister  of  King  Wenzel,  had  married 
Richard  H  of  England,  and  had  favored  Wyclif 
and  encouraged  him  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  English.  Many  students  went  from  Bohemia 
to  Oxford  and  brought  back  the  doctrines  of  the 
English  reformer ;  this  was  true  especially  of  Je- 
rome of  Prague,  destined  later  to  be  a  fellow- 
martyr  with  Huss.  Huss  himself  became  an  ear- 
nest student  of  Wyclif's  works,  especially  of  his 
philosophical  doctrines.  The  chief  accusation 
against  him  at  Constance,  expressed  or  implied,  was 
that  he  was  a  follower  of  the  English  heretic. 


Conditions  in  Bohe^iia.  31 

Yet  Wyclif  alone  could  not  have  produced  the 
Hussite  movement,  were  it  not  for  other  causes, 
chiefly  pertaining  to  national  conditions.  Many 
points  of  difference  in  doctrine  exist  between  him 
and  Huss,  who  only  approved  of  certain  of  his 
teachings,  and  especially  differed  from  him  in  re- 
gard to  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  Wyclif, 
then,  was  only  one — although  a  very  important 
one — of  the  elements  which  make  up  the  Reforma- 
tion of  Huss. 

We  have  already  discussed  the  religious  and 
national  traditions  which  formed  the  background 
to  the  movement  begun  by  Huss.  We  must  now 
turn  our  attention  for  a  brief  time  to  three  men 
who  are  known  as  the  forerunners  of  Huss  in 
Bohemia  itself,  who  laid  the  foundations  on  which 
he  built,  by  promulgating  certain  doctrines  of  re- 
formatory tendency,  by  laying  bare  the  corrupt 
condition  of  the  Church  and  by  preparing  the  vast 
majority  of  the  Bohemian  people  to  follow  the  lead 
of  Huss  when  he  should  appear. 

The  first  of  these  forerunners  of  Huss  was  .^' 
Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  so  called  from  a  small 
market-place  of  the  same  name  in  Austria,  where 
he  was  born.  It  was  through  Charles  IV,  who 
was  impressed  by  his  learning  and  energy,  that 
he  came  to  Prague,  where  he  spent  many  years  as 
preacher  at  the  Church  of  St.  Callus.  His  success  . 
was  enormous;  not  only  was  his  church  crowded, 
so  that  he  had  to  preach  in  the  open  square  be- 


32  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

fore  it,  but  his  sermons,  in  which  he  scourged 
the  pride,  Hcentiousness,  and  avarice  of  the  people, 
wrought  a  most  remarkable  change  in  the  life  and 
conduct  of  the  multitude.  Women  laid  aside  their 
rich  garments  and  costly  jewels,  men  who  had  for 
years  been  stained  by  vice  and  sin  became  con- 
verted and  lived  pious  and  religious  lives.  Even 
usurers  and  public  thieves  gave  up  their  ill-gotten 
gains.  It  was  chiefly  against  the  corruption  of  the 
clergy  that  he  preached,  especially  the  monks,  who 
at  that  time  were  despised  and  hated  throughout' 
the  whole  Christian  world  for  their  overbearing 
pride,  luxury,  and  neglect  of  duty.  In  his  sermons 
and  writings  we  see  already  the  germs  of  the  es- 
sential doctrine  of  Protestantism,  that  the  gospel 
should  be  preached  to  the  people  and  that  outward 
forms  do  not  insure  salvation.  It  was  no  wonder, 
then,  that  Conrad  was  cordially  hated  by  the  clergy, 
nor  that  the  usual  weapons  in  such  cases,  accu- 
sations of  heresy,  were  directed  against  him.  Yet 
owing  to  the  continued  favor  shown  him  by  Charles 
IV  he  escaped  all  snares  laid  for  him  by  his  ene- 
mies, and  was  finally  put  in  charge  of  the  most 
important  parish  in  Prague,  that  of  the  Teyn 
Church,  where  he  died  December  8,  1369. 

Still  more  influential  in  preparing  the  way  for 
the  Hussite  movement  was  Milit^,.  of  Kremsier,  to 
whom  Neander  gives  the  credit  of  the  first  impulse 
toward  the  Reformation  in  Moravia. 

He  was  for  many  years  employed  in  the  Court 


Conditions  in  Bohemia. 


33 


of  Charles  IV,  and  in  1360  was  made  one  of  the 
imperial   secretaries.     He   had   everything   a  man 
could  wish  for,  was  well  off  in  worldly  goods,  had 
a  good  position  and  the  favor  of  the  king;  yet'sud- 
denly  in  1363  he  declared  his  intention  to 'renounce 
all  his  honors  and  worldly  prosperity  in  order  to 
serve  Christ  in  poverty  and  humility,--all  this  in 
spite   of   the    earnest    remonstrance    of   his    arch- 
bishop, Arnest,  who  said  to  him,  "What  better  thing 
could  you  do  than  to  help  your  poor  over-shepherd 
m  the  care  of  his  flock?"    However,  he  came  back 
to  Prague  and  began  to  preach,  first  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Nicholas,  then  in  the  Church  of  St.  ^gidius 
in   Old  Prague.     At  first  he  was  not  successful, 
but  little  by  little  the  interest  in  his  sermons  grew 
until  the  number  of  hearers  was  so  great  that  he 
had  to  preach  at  different  places,  often  three  times, 
or  even  five  times  a  day.     Not  only,  however,  did 
he  stir  the  masses  with  religious  enthusiasm,'  but 
he  likewise  won  the  admiration  of  the  educated 
classes  by  his  learning  and  literary  talent.    He  thus 
became  the  spiritual  director  of  nearly  all  Prague. 
Many  of  the  worst  classes  were  converted,  and  he 
founded  an  institution  in  the  lowest  quarter  of  the 
city,  something  like  the  social  settlements  of  mod- 
ern times,  the  expenses  of  which  he  paid  himself 
out  of  funds  contributed  by  charitable  persons. 

Studying   and   brooding   over  the   Bible,   espe- 
cially the  prophetic  books  and  the  Apocalypse,  he 
believed  he  had  made  an  important  discovery;  i.  e., 
3 


34  John  Huss:  Th^  Witne:ss. 

that  the  prophecy  concerning  the  coming  of  Christ 
was  to  fall  within  the  period  1365-67,  and  he  wrote 
a  learned  book  thereon.  He  found  signs  of  the 
Antichrist  in  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men, 
but  above  all  in  the  clergy,  from  the  archbishop  to 
the  lowest  monk.  This  naturally  led  to  hostility 
on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  yet  still  the  emperor  kept 
his  kindly  feeling  toward  him,  and  when  in  1367 
he  appealed  to  Pope  Urban  V  against  his  accusers 
and  went  to  the  papal  court  himself,  he  brought 
with  him  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  em- 
peror. In  spite  of  this  he  was  imprisoned  in  Ara 
Coeli,  but  was  released  later,  returned  to  Prague, 
where  he  remained  for  a  while.  Then  in  1374, 
again  accused  of  heresy  by  the  clergy,  he  went  to 
Avignon,  where  he  fell  sick  and  died  before  the 
question  of  his  orthodoxy  was  settled. 

The  influence  of  Militz  on  the  whole  Bohemian 
reform  movement  was  a  mighty  one.  His  extraor- 
dinary power  as  a  popular  preacher  stirred  the 
masses  of  the  people  to  their  depths,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  the  terrible  fanaticism  of  the  Hussite 
wars  after  the  death  of  Huss  himself.  Like  Con- 
rad of  Waldhausen,  however,  his  chief  influence 
was  exercised  by  preaching.  A  third  man  in  the 
list  of  Huss's  forerunners  possessed  what  had  been 
wanting  in  the  other  two ;  that  is,  the  literary  skill 
to  spread  his  doctrines  broadcast  throughout  the 
land,  far  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  personal 
influence. 


Conditions  in  Bohemia.  35 

This  was  done  by  Matthias  of  Janow,  who  un-  J^ 
Hke  his  predecessors  was  of  gentle  birth,  being 
the  son  of  a  Bohemian  knight.  While  a  student 
at  the  University  of  Prague  he  became  an  earnest 
follower  of  Militz.  He  had  an  excellent  prepara- 
tion. After  completing  his  studies  at  Prague  he 
spent  six  years  at  the  University  of  Paris,  where 
he  received  the  degree  of  IMaster  of  Arts.  From 
Pope  Urban  VI,  whom  he  visited  in  Rome,  he  re- 
ceived the  position  of  Canon  of  the  Cathedral 
Church  of  Prague.     He  died  November  30,  1394. 

Janow  was  not  a  pastor  or  a  preacher  like  Con- 
rad or  Alilitz,  but  he  exerted  his  influence  chiefly 
through  his  writings,  by  means  of  which  he  laid 
the  intellectual  foundations  for  Huss's  work.  Chief 
among  these  writings  was  the  De  Regulis  Veteris 
el  Novi  Test  anient  is,  which,  as  Palacky  says,  con- 
sidering the  real  subject  of  it,  might  have  more 
appropriately  been  called  "Studies  on  True  and 
False  Christianity."  Although  this  book  is  for- 
gotten to-day,  it  exerted  the  most  extraordinary 
influence  at  its  appearance.  In  it  he  discussed  the 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  and  advocated  the  fre- 
quent, even  daily,  administration  of  the  I^ord's  Sup- 
per, and  especially  the  restoration  of  the  custom  of 
the  early  Church  to  give  to  the  laity  both  the  wine 
and  the  host.  Pie  was  in  this  respect  the  fore- 
runner of  Jacobel  and  the  whole  Calixtine  party, 
which  played  so  great  a  part  in  the  later  Hussite 
movement. 


36  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witness. 

In  his  De  Sacerdotum  et  Monachorum  Car- 
nalium  Abominatione  he  scourges  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  times,  and  in  the  tractate  De  Revela- 
tione  Christi  et  Antichristi  he  gave  the  signs  of 
the  coming  of  Antichrist.  Antichrist  he  declares 
is  not  flesh  and  blood,  but  spirit,  the  spirit  in  the 
Church  that  is  opposed  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 
Whosoever  works  against  virtue  in  unrighteous- 
ness or  against  wisdom  and  love,  and  does  this 
knowingly,  and  purposely,  he  is  the  Antichrist. 
The  higher  position  such  a  man  has  in  the  Church, 
the  higher  is  Antichrist,  and  if  he  is  head  of  the 
Church  then  he  is  the  highest  Antichrist  of  all. 
Formerly  Antichrist  used  physical  power  against 
the  Church,  then  he  sought  to  undermine  it  by 
heresies;  now  he  shows  himself  under  the  form  of 
piety,  bedecked  with  art,  science,  religion,  pomp, 
and  circumstance. 

Among  the  signs  which  announce  the  com- 
ing of  Antichrist  Janow  gives  the  mingling  of 
the  spiritual  things  with  the  wordly,  the  tem- 
poral with  the  eternal ;  the  neglect  of  duty  and 
general  corruption  of  the  clergy;  the  divisions 
and  schisms  in  the  Church  at  large,  and  the  bitter 
contest  between  Dominio&ns  and  Franciscans, 
priests  and  monks,  the  prevalence  of  luxury,  dead 
ceremonies,  the  worship  of  images  and  the  craze 
for  miracles.  Like  Dante,  a  hundred  years  before, 
he  laments  the  gift  of  Constantine  as  the  basis  of 
the  false  claim  on  the  part  of  the  pope  for  temporal 


/ 


/ 


Conditions  in  Bohe:mia.  37 

power.  He  scourges  bishops,  doctors,  priests,  and 
especially  monks,  who  suck  the  blood  of  the  poor 
by  begging.  He  declares  that  human  laws,  fasts, 
feasts,  processions,  etc.,  had  driven  into  the  back- 
ground the  commands  of  God,  that  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences, the  worship  of  relics  and  miracles  drew 
people  from  true  piety,  and  finally  declares  it  his 
aim  to  help  abolish  all  these  accretions  and  to 
lead  the  Church  back  to  its  original  simplicity.  "I 
believe,"  he  prophesies,  "that  all  these  above-named 
works  of  men,  ordinances,  and  ceremonies  will  be 
utterly  extirpated,  cut  up  by  the  roots  and  cease; 
and  that  God  alone  will  be  exalted  and  His  word 
will  abide  forever ;  and  the  time  is  close  at  hand 
when  these  ordinances  shall  be  abolished." 

Although  Matthias  did  not  openly  combat  the 
hierarchical  system,  yet  he  must  be  looked  upon  as 
a  forerunner  of  Protestantism  when  we  consider 
the  spirit  of  his  teaching.  Among  other  things 
he  declared  that  the  law  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as  seen 
in  the  Bible  is  enough  for  the  government  of  the 
Church;  that  all  human  ordinances  and  traditions 
should  be  abolished  and  the  Church  led  back  to 
the  simplicity  of  apostolic  times;  that  the  only 
condition  for  the  salvation  of  man  is  to  be  born 
again  of  the  spirit  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  that 
this  is  the  pure  gift  of  grace  on  the  part  of  God; 
that  in  this  faith  every  man  has  free  access  to 
God  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  community  of 
those  who   know   and   exercise  this   freedom,   and 


38  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

tliey  alone,  form  the  true  Christian  Church.  The 
logical  result  of  all  these  doctrines  would  be  ut- 
terly to  destroy  the  whole  fabric  of  the  hierarchical 
system,  from  the  pope  down  to  the  humblest  priest, 
to  abolish  forever  all  forms  and  ceremonies  which 
stood  between  man  and  his  God,  and  the  reduction 
of.  public  worship  to  its  simplest  elements.  The 
influence  of  Janow  was  very  great;  he  gave  to 
Huss  the  first  impulse  to  his  reformatory  move- 
ment, and  his  writings  scattered  broadcast  over  all 
Bohemia  created  a  widespread  desire  for  a  change 
in  religious  matters. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY   LIFE  AND   ACTIVITY   OF  HUSS. 

WhKN  we  consider  the  place  occupied  by  John 
Huss  in  the  world's  history,  it  is  a  source  of  the 
deepest  regret  that  we  possess  so  few  details  as  to 
his  early  life  and  the  development  of  his  relig- 
ious consciousness.  Biography  and  especially  auto- 
biography are  among  the  most  fascinating  as  well 
as  most  useful  kinds  of  literature.  What  a  loss  to 
the  world  it  would  have  been  had  St.  Augustine 
never  written  his  Confessions !  We  have  practically 
a  complete  knowledge  of  the  external  and  internal 
life  of  Luther  and  Wesley,  but  of  the  story  of 
John  Huss  we  know  only  the  details  of  the  last 
few  years  which  precede  his  death  and  martyrdom 
at  Constance. 

It  is  true  that  these  years  are  the  ones  that  are 
of  most  importance,  for  in  them  he  accomplished 
the  work,  the  effects  of  which  will  be  felt  as  long 
as  time  shall  last.  It  is  likewise  a  matter  of  re- 
joicing that  we  have  not  only  the  testimony  of 
friends,  the  reports  of  committees,  and  the  de- 
crees of  the  Council  of  Constance,  but  a  minute 
account  of  Huss's  life  in  prison  by  Peter  of 
Mladenowic,  as  well  as  a  number  of  letters  written 
by  Huss  himself. 

39 


40  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

John  Huss  was  born  July  6,  1369,  just  forty- 
six  years  to  a  day  before  his  death  at  Constance. 
Like  Luther,  he  belonged  to  the  common  people, 
his  parents  being  peasants.  What  their  name  was 
is  now  unknown,  for  Huss  took  his  name  from  the 
little  market-town  of  Hussinec,  where  he  was  born, 
or  rather  from  the  castle  near  by  called  Hus.* 
Everything  relating  to  his  childhood  and  early 
school  life  is  either  utterly  unknown  or  based  upon 
unreliable  tradition.  The  earliest  real  information 
we  have  concerning  him  is  his  appearance  at  the 
University  of  Prague,  where  he  studied  under  the 
most  celebrated  men  of  the  day,  among  whom  were 
John  of  Stiekna,  Nicholas  of  Leitomisl,  and  Stanis- 
laus of  Znaim  (who  later  became  his  bitter  enemy). 
In  September,  1393,  he  received  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Free  Arts,  in  1394  that  of  Bachelor 
of  Theology,  and  in  1396  that  of  Master  of  Arts. 
As  his  rank  among  those  who  graduated  with  him 
at  this  time  was  only  about  the  middle,  it  indicates 
that  his  teachers  did  not  regard  him  as  a  man  of 
unusual  ability.  In  1398  he  appeared  as  a  public 
teacher  at  the  university,  and  in  the  following  year, 
1399,  defended  certain  propositions  of  Wyclif,  thus 
coming  into  contest  for  the  first  time  with  his  col- 
leagues. 

At  that  time  the  University  of  Prague  was  one 
of  the  greatest  universities  in  the  world,  ranking 


*  The  word  Hus  in  Bohemian  signifies  a  goose,  a  pun  often  alluded  to 
by  himself. 


EarIvY  hiJ^^  AND  Activity  of  Huss.        41 

with  those  of  Paris,  Bologna,  and  Oxford.  In  1408 
there  were  said  to  be  as  many  as  two  hundred  doc- 
tors, five  hundred  Bachelors  of  Arts,  and  thirty 
thousand  students.  All  sciences  then  known  were 
taught,  every  Master  of  Arts  had  the  privilege  at 
his  own  will  of  giving  public  and  private  lectures, 
and  every  student  could  attend  what  lectures  he 
pleased.  This  perfect  freedom,  both  in  hearing  and 
in  giving  lectures,  explains  undoubtedly,  as  Palacky 
says,  the  extraordinary  crowds  of  students  that 
came  to  Prague  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 

That  Huss  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities 
we  know  from  his  works,  which  show  him  to  be  a 
man  of  high  scholarship,  although  by  no  means  so 
able  a  thinker  as  Wyclif,  or  so  brilliant  a  dialec- 
tician as  his  younger  contemporary,  Jerome  of 
Prague.  Yet,  although  he  was  an  eager  student, 
he  realized  that  learning  is  not  everything.  In  one 
of  his  synodal  sermons  he  declares:  "First  of  all 
must  we  learn  that  which  is  most  necessary  to  sal- 
vation, that  which  stimulates  us  to  love;  for  we 
should  learn  not  for  vainglory  or  curiosity,  but 
to  the  edification  of  ourselves  and  our  neighbor, 
and  to  the  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There 
are  some  who  wish  to  know  in  order  that  they 
may  be  known  of  men,  and  that  is  degrading 
vanity ;  there  are  others  who  wish  to  know  for 
the  sake  of  knowing,  and  that  is  curiosity;  and 
there  are  still  others  who  wish  to  know  in  order  to 
sell  their  knowledge   for   wealth   and  honor,   and 


i 


42  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

that  is  ignoble  desire  for  gain.  But  there  are  like- 
wise some  who  desire  to  know  in  order  to  edify, 
and  that  is  love;  and  still  others  who  desire  to 
know  in  order  to  be  edified  themselves,  and  that 
is  wisdom."  ' 

Although  he  was  not  a  great  scholar,  yet  his 
learning  was  broad  and  solid,  as  the  reading  of 
his  books  and  the  reports  of  his  disputations  abun- 
dantly show.  He  knew  something  of  Greek,  less 
of  Hebrew;  but  he  was  thoroughly  grounded  in 
Latin,  and  at  home  in  philosophy,  especially  Aris- 
totle and  Plato.  As  to  his  knowledge  of  Church 
history  and  the  Church  fathers,  his  works,  full  of 
quotations  from  Chrysostom,  Origen,  Jerome,  Au- 
gustine, Peter  Lombard,  Thomas  Aquinas,  etc., 
give  ample  testimony.  At  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance he  later  showed  himself  to  be  no  mean  ad- 
versary of  the  great  lights  of  the  philosophical  and 
theological  world,  especially   Gerson  and  D'Ailly. 

At  that  early  time  he  was  still  a  devout  ad- 
herent to  the  doctrines  and  even  forms  of  the 
Church,  for  we  are  told  how  in  1393  he  gave  the 
last  four  groschen  he  had  to  his  confessor,  "so 
that  he  had  nothing  more  to  eat  than  dry  bread." 
His  life  must  have  been  blameless  from  his  youth 
up,  for  his  bitterest  enemies  never  ventured  to  cast 
the  least  aspersion  on  his  personal  conduct.  He 
himself.  It  is  true,  just  before  his  death  blames 
himself  for  vanity,  anger,  and  frivolous  amuse- 
ments.    In  a  letter  to  a  certain   Master  Martin, 


Early  Life  and  Activity  oi^  Huss.        43 

which  Huss  had  written  before  his  departure  from 
Bohemia,  but  which  he  had  requested  should  not 
be  opened  before  Master  Martin  was  assured  that 
Huss  must  die,  he  writes  as  follows:  "You  have 
known  my  preaching  and  exhortations  from  your 
childhood;  but  I  beseech  you,  by  the  mercy  of 
our  Lord,  not  to  follow  me  in  any  of  the  vanities 
into  which  you  have  seen  me  fall.  Know,  alas! 
that  before  I  became  a  priest  I  consumed  a  great 
deal  of  time  in  playing  chess,  and  that  in  so  doing 
I  was  often  angry  myself  and  provoked  others  to 
anger.  I  beg  your  prayers  for  this  sin  of  mine 
and  for  my  innumerable  transgressions;" — 

<*  O  dignitosa  coscienza  e  netta. 

Come  t'^  picciol  fallo  amaro  morso!"* 

As  a  teacher  Huss  must  have  been  successful, 
for  not  only  was  he  supported  in  his  later  strug- 
gles by  practically  the  whole  body  of  students,  but 
we  find  him  making  rapid  advancement  in  his 
academic  career.  On  October  15,  1401,  he  was 
elected  Dean  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty,  and  a 
year  later  he  became  rector  of  the  whole  univer- 
sity. These  facts  in  themselves  should  warn  us 
not  to  go  too  far  in  denying  to  Huss,  as  some  have 
done,  the  possession  of  a  high  degree  of  learning 
and  administrative  ability. 

One  phase  c^  Huss's  education,   which   seems 


*  "O  noble  and  tender  conscience, 

How  a  little  fault  fills  thee  with  bitter  remorse  !" 

—Dante,  Purg.  Ill,  8-9. 


44  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

puerile  to  us  to-day,  was  of  vast  importance  at  that 
time  and  fraught  with  baleful  influence  on  his  after 
career;  namely,  his  system  of  philosophy.  During 
the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages  philosophy  and  the- 
ology were  one,  and  under  the  name  of  Scholasti- 
cism absorbed  the  attention  of  the  brightest  minds 
in  the  Church.  As  the  dogmas  of  Christianity  were 
absolutely  true,  and  could  be  denied  by  none  but 
heretics,  the  problem  of  philosophy  was  no  longer 
to  seek  after  truth,  but  to  explain  the  dogmas  of 
the  Church,  deduce  their  consequences,  and  show^ 
their  harmony  with  human  reason.  Beginning  with 
Scotus  Erigena,  carried  on  by  St.  Anselm,  Abelard, 
Petrus  Lombard,  and  others.  Scholasticism  reached 
its  climax  in  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  whose  Summa 
Theologice  became  the  official  philosophy  of  the 
Church,  a  position  which  it  nominally  holds  even 
to-day. 

Scholasticism,  however,  early  became  split 
up  into  two  great  parties — the  Realists  and  the 
Nominalists — corresponding  somewhat  to  the  mod- 
ern idealists  (Realists)  and  materialists  (Nominal- 
ists). The  Realists  declared  that  Universals  (i.  e., 
the  Ideas  of  Platonism)  actually  existed,  while 
the  individuals  which  make  up  the  world  of  phe- 
nomena are  only  a  fleeting  symbol  or  sign  of  their 
unchangeable  and  eternal  prototypes.  On  the  other 
hand,  common  sense  tended  to  regard  Universals 
as  mere  notions  of  the  mind — vocis  Hatus,  signs 
and  abstractions,  while  the  individuals  alone  are 


Early  Life  and  Activity  oi?  Huss.         45 

real.  The  motto  of  this  branch  of  Scholasticism 
was  Universalia  sunt  Nomina,  hence  the  name 
Nominalism.  Among  the  earliest  champions  of 
Nominalism  was  Roscellinus,  who  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  Anselm  and  William  of  Champeaux, 
the  great  champions  of  Realism;  midway  between 
the  two  was  Abelard.  While  the  doctrine  of  the 
Nominalists  was  summed  up  in  the  formula  ''Uni- 
versalia post  Rem,"  and  that  of  the  Realists  in 
"Universalia  ante  Rem,"  Albelard's  view  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  words  "Universalia  nee  ante  Rem 
nee  post  Rem  sed  in  Re." 

Strangely  enough,  while  the  growing  spread 
of  Nominalism,  especially  through  William  of 
Occam,  led  largely  to  the  breaking  down  of  the 
universal  power  of  the  Church,  and  was  thus  nat- 
urally allied  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation, 
it  was  not  the  philosophical  system  of  Huss,  but 
that  of  his  most  distinguished  adversaries  at  the 
Council  of  Constance,  Gerson  and  D'Ailly.  At  the 
time  of  Huss's  appearance  in  the  world  of  public 
life  the  reigning  system  of  philosophy,  both  in 
Paris  and  throughout  Germany,  was  Nominalism. 
John  Wyclif,  however,  was  a  Realist,  and  iit  was 
through  the  study  of  his  philosophical  books,  known 
in  Bohemia  as  early  as  1285,  that  Huss  and  many 
others  became  Realists.  Wyclif's  book,  "De  Uni- 
versalihiis  Realibus"  ("On  the  Reality  of  Universal 
Concepts")  was  for  years  a  text-book  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Prague.     Huss  became  in  a  short  time 


46  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

an  enthusiastic  disciple  of  the  EngHsh  Reformer, 
at  first,  however,  looking  on  him  merely  as  a  phi- 
losopher. Yet  the  odium  philosophicum  thus 
aroused  against  him  had  much  to  do  with  his  death 
later. 

Thus  we  see  that  Huss's  first  prominence 
in  public  was  connected  with  his  philosophy. 
Realism  had  become  very  widely  spread  in  Bo- 
hemia, and  he  was  looked  upon  as  its  chief 
exponent,  and  was  followed  by  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  Bohemian  youth.  On  the  other  side, 
however,  a  hostile  party,  consisting  chiefly  of  for- 
eigners, was  ranged  against  him.  Among  the 
scholars  who  at  this  time  sided  with  him  were 
Stanislaus  of  Znaim,  Peter  of  Znaim,  and  Stephen 
Paletz,  all  of  whom  later  became  his  bitterest  ene- 
mies; others,  who  remained  faithful  to  him  were 
Jerome  of  Prague,  Nicholas  of  Leitomisl,  Jacob 
of  Mies  (better  known  as  Jacobel),  and  Peter  of 
Mladenowic,  who  later  wrote  the  account  of  Huss's 
life  in  the  prisons  of  Constance. 

All  these  things  form  m^ore  or  less  important 
parts  of  the  events  which  led  Huss  to  his  reform- 
atory efforts ;  but  they  in  themselves  would  have 
been  of  little  influence  had  it  not  be^n  for  other 
events  which  soon  took  place. 

Among  the  greatest  gifts  of  Huss  was  that 
of  public  oratory.  He  developed  a  power  in 
preaching  which  soon  made  him  widely  known; 
and  so  when  the   famous   Bethlehem  Chapel  was 


Early  Lii-K  and  Activity  op  Huss.        47 

in  need  of  a  preacher  in  1402  it  was  natural 
that  those  in  charge  should  think  of  him.  The 
estabhshment  of  this  most  interesting  institution 
was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  influence  of  Janow 
and  Alilitz.  Two  citizens  of  Prague — John  of 
iNIiilheim,  and  Kreuz — conceived  the  idea  of  a 
place  where  the  gospel  could  be  heard  by  the 
people  in  their  native  tongue,  and  to  this  end 
they  built  at  their  own  expense  a  chapel,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Bethlehem.  Among  other 
things  contained  in  its  charter  was  the  stipulation 
that  sermons  should  be  preached  in  the  Bohemian 
language  in  the  morning  and  afternoon  of  every 
Sunday  and  on  holidays. 

Huss  was  the  fourth  person  to  be  called 
to  the  office  of  preacher.  His  success  was  ex- 
traordinary. In  the  words  of  Palacky,  "The 
sermons  preached  during  many  years  by  this  man 
in  the  Bethlehem  Chapel  of  Old  Prague  were 
among  the  most  important  events  of  his  time.  Less 
coarse  in  his  sermons  than  Conrad  of  Waldhausen, 
less  exaggerated  in  his  views  than  Militz,  he  did 
not  affect  his  hearers  so  powerfully  as  his  prede- 
cessors ;  and  yet  his  success  was  far  more  lasting. 
He  appealed  especially  to  the  common  sense  of  his 
hearers,  aroused  their  interest,  taught  and  con- 
vinced them;  and  yet  he  was  not  wanting  in  im- 
pressiveness.  The  keenness  and  clearness  of  his 
mind,  the  fact  with  which  he  penetrated  to  the 
very  heart  of  a  question,  the  ease  with  which  he 


48  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

knew  how  to  develop  it  before  the  eyes  of  all, 
the  wide  reading,  especially  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, the  firmness  and  logic  with  which  he  proved 
a  whole  system  of  principles,  raised  him  far  above 
his  colleagues  and  contemporaries.  To  all  this  we 
may  add  the  deep  earnestness  of  his  character,  his 
devout  spirit,  a  personal  conduct  in  which  even 
his  enemies  could  find  nothing  to  blame,  a  burning- 
zeal  for  the  moral  elevation  of  the  people,  as  well 
as  for  the  reformation  of  the  ecclesiastical  con- 
ditions of  his  time ;  and  at  the  same  time  boldness, 
firmness,  a  strange  seeking  after  popularity,  and 
love  for  fame,  which  looked  upon  the  martyr's 
crown  as  the  highest  goal  of  human  life."  Not 
only  were  his  sermons  listened  to  by  vast  throngs 
of  the  lower  classes,  but  by  the  students  and  the 
aristocracy  as  well.  Even  the  queen  herself  came 
to  Bethlehem  Chapel  nearly  every  Sunday,  and 
made  Huss  her  personal  confessor. 

Of  his  early  sermons  we  know  largely  only 
from  hearsay;  yet  we  know  on  broad  lines  their 
characteristic  features.  They  covered  the  whole 
field  of  Church  doctrines,  based  on  the  Scripture  for 
the  day;  they  laid  bare  the  hypocrisy  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  lax  clergy;  showed  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  teachings  of  Christ  as  seen  in  the  Gos- 
pels and  the  whole  system  of  the  Roman  hierarchy ; 
they  boldly  attacked  the  crying  evils  of  the  Church, 
such  as  the  widespread  sale  of  indulgences,  and 
compared  the  entry  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem  with 
the  luxury  of  prelates  and  bishops. 


Early  Life:  and  Activity  of  Huss.        49 

The   appointment  of   Huss  to   the  position   of 
preacher  at  Bethlehem  Chapel  was  not  only  epoch- 
making   for  the   Bohemian   Reformation,   but  had 
the  greatest  possible   influence  on  his  own  char- 
acter.    It  was  here  that  his  eyes  were  first  opened 
to  see  the  whole  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus.     In 
preparing   for   his   sermons   he   studied   the    Bible 
thoroughly ;  and  more  and  more  it  grew  upon  him 
how   great  the   contrast   was   between   the  gospel 
and  the  Church  of  his  own  day.     He  could  not 
help  criticising  by  means  of  this  standard  the  con- 
duct of  the  clergy,  from  the  pope  down  to  the  low- 
est priest ;  he  could  not  help  seeing  how  much  the 
claims  of  universal  power  on  the  part  of  the  papacy 
were  at  variance  with  the  statement  of  Christ,  "My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."     He  thus  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  unshakable  principle,  that  the 
Bible  alone  is  the  only  true  code  of  the  Christian 
life,  which  was  later  to  lead  him  to  the  stake. 

But  while  his  own  character  was  being  formed, 
and  while  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly,' 
by  his  fierce  onslaughts  against  the  clergy  he  be- 
came the  object  of  their  bitter  hatred.  Yet  if  he 
had  not  gone  further  than  this  he  would  have  suf- 
fered no  harm.  All  Christendom  at  that  time  felt 
the  scandal  of  the  clergy,  and  proclaimed  the  ne- 
cessity of  reform.  Huss  was  no  more  outspoken 
in  his  scourging  of  the  corruptions  of  the  Church 
than  Gerson  and  D'Ailly,  who  afterwards  did  so 
much  to  destroy  him  at  the  Council  of  Constance ; 
4 


50  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

nay,  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  calling  that  coun- 
cil itself  was  for  the  express  purpose  of  reforming 
the  clergy.  In  Prague  itself  Huss  was  supported 
by  those  highest  in  authority,  both  in  Church  and 
State.  King  Wenzel  was  favorable  to  him,  and 
the  Archbishop  Zbynek  ordered  him  to  report  to 
him  all  cases  of  corruption  among  the  clergy  that 
might  come  under  his  notice,  and  in  addition  made 
him  synodal  preacher. 

Several  things,  however,  soon  led  to  an  increase 
of  the  hatred  against  Huss,  tended  to  estrange  from 
him  many  who  had  hitherto  been  his  friends,  and 
finally  led  to  a  state  of  affairs  in  which  retraction  or 
martyrdom  was  the  only  alternative.  The  first  of 
these  was  the  so-called  miracle  of  Wilsnack.  It 
seems  that  a  church  had  been  destroyed  in  the 
town  of  the  above  name,  in  the  district  of  Prieg- 
nitz,  and  in  a  cavity  of  a  stone  altar,  which  had 
been  left  partly  standing,  three  wafers  had  been 
found,  colored  red  as  if  with  blood ;  it  was  declared 
by  the  priests  that  this  was  the  blood  of  Christ.  The 
fame  of  this  supposed  miracle  was  spread  far  and 
wide  throughout  all  Europe.  Wilsnack  became  a 
place  of  pilgrimage,  to  which  came  great  crowds 
from  Hungary,  Poland,  and  even  the  Scandinavian 
countries  of  the  distant  north.  A  shrewd  suspicion 
was  excited  that  all  was  not  right,  and  that  the 
priests  of  Wilsnack  had  used  tricks  and  falsehood 
in  order  to  encourage  the  pilgrimages  which  were 
so  profitable  to  them.    Archbishop  Zbynek  forbade 


Early  Lifk  and  Activity  of  Huss.        51 

his  own  people  to  take  part  in  these  pilgrimages, 
and  appointed  a  committee  of  three  to  inquire  hito 
the  matter.  Among  them  was  John  Huss,  to  whose 
influence  we  may  largely  ascribe  the  rendering  of 
a  report  adverse  to  the  genuineness  of  the  sup- 
posed miracles.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  he 
wrote  his  tract,  "De  Omni  Sanguine  Christi  Glori- 
ficati,"  in  which,  although  he  remains  perfectly 
orthodox  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  he  yet  shows  himself  utterly  opposed  to  the 
superstitions  and  frauds  so  intimately  connected 
with  the  worship  of  relics  and  the  exploitation  of 
miracles. 

The  report  of  the  committee  showed  that  the 
so-called  miracles   were   fraudulent.     It  was   said 
that   the   foot   of   a   boy   had   been   healed;    "We 
found  that  his  foot  was  worse  than  before."    Two 
blind  women  were  said  to  have  received  their  sight; 
'They   confessed   before   many  people,   before   us 
and  the  notary,  that  they  had  never  been  blind, 
although   suffering   from   poor   sight."     A   citizen 
of  Prague,  whose  hand  was  withered,  offered  at 
Wilsnack  a  silver  hand.     Wishing  to  know  what 
the  priest  would  say  about  this  hand,  he  remained 
there  three  days.     Then  he  heard  the  priest  in  his 
own  presence  say:  "Hear,  children,  about  a  new 
miracle.     Behold,    a   citizen   of   Prague   has   been 
cured  of  a  withered  hand,  through  the  blood  of 
Christ;   in   witness   whereof  he  has   brought  this 
silver   hand   as   an   offering."     Then   the   citizen. 


52  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

who  was  among  the  congregation,  raised  his  hand 
and  said,  ''See,  here  is  my  hand,  withered  as  be- 
fore." 

All  this  made  a  tremendous  stir  throughout  the 
land.  If  the  miracles  of  Wilsnack  were  frauds, 
how  about  all  the  others?  The  whole  subject  of 
relics  and  miracles  was  in  danger  of  being  brought 
into  indifference  and  contempt,  and  an  unfailing 
source  of  power  and  financial  profit  would  be  lost. 
No  wonder  that  Huss's  prominence  in  this  affair 
embittered  the  hatred  which  his  unsparing  denun- 
ciation of  the  clergy  had  already  brought  upon 
him.  Years  after  he  was  falsely  accused  of  heresy 
on  the  question  of  transubstantiation,  largely  owing 
to  his  activity  in  the  affair  of  Wilsnack. 

Huss's  article  "De  Omni  Sanguine"  marks  his 
first  appearance  before  the  world  as  a  writer  and 
reformer.  Another  event  which  had  the  deepest 
influence,  both  on  the  intellectual  and  religious 
development  of  Huss  himself  and  on  the  whole  re- 
formatory movement,  was  the  spread  of  Wyclif's 
doctrines  in  Bohemia.  As  we  have  already  said, 
several  of  his  books  had  been  known  before  1385. 
They  were  now  read  with  intense  enthusiasm  at  the 
University  of  Prague,  and  counted  among  their 
adherents  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of 
the  day,  among  them  Nicholas  of  Leitomisl,  Stanis- 
laus of  Znaim,  Stephen  Paletz,  John  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague. 

The  latter,  who  was  to  have  his  name  indis- 


Eari,y  Life  and  Activity  of  Huss.        53 

solubly  joined  to  that  of  Huss  by  suffering  the 
same  death,  and  for  the  same  cause  at  Constance, 
had  done  much  for  the  study  of  Wyclif  in  Bohemia. 
Some  years  younger  than  Huss,  born  of  a  noble 
family  of  Prague,  endowed  with  keen  intellect  and 
extraordinary  oratorical  powers,  he  had  studied  in 
nearly  all  the  universities  of  Europe,  among  them 
Heidelberg,  Cologne,  Oxford,  and  Paris.  At  the 
latter  place  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  On  his  return  from  Oxford  he  had  brought 
back  a  number  of  Wyclif's  books,  hitherto  unknown 
to  his  countrymen.  We  have  his  own  words  for 
this,  when  before  the  Council  of  Constance  he 
said :  '1  confess  that  when  I  was  still  a  youth,  full 
of  love  for  learning,  I  went  to  England,  and  hear- 
ing the  fame  of  Wyclif,  how  that  he  was  a  man 
of  fine,  keen,  and  extraordinary  intellect,  I  made 
copies  of  his  'Dialogue'  and  'Trialogue'  and 
brought  them  back  to  Prague." 

Through  the  efforts  of  Huss  and  Jerome,  sup- 
ported by  the  others  mentioned  above,  an  extraor- 
dinary impetus  was  given  to  the  study  of  Wyclif's 
doctrines  at  the  university.  When  Archbishop 
Zbynek,  who  at  first  was  somewhat  indifferent,  be- 
came alarmed  and  had  received,  a  letter  from  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  the  effect  that  not 
only  the  English  Church,  but  also  the  University 
of  Oxford  had  condemned  the  works  of  Wyclif, 
it  was  too  late  to  stem  the  tide. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  as  the  Wilsnack  affair 


54  John  Huss:  Tut  Witness. 

gave  the  first  impetus  to  an  open  break  between 
Huss  and  the  hierarchy,  the  whole  Wydif  move- 
ment gave  an  additional  and  still  more  powerful  im- 
pulse thereto.  It  furnished  to  his  enemies  what 
they  had  not  hitherto  had,  a  weapon  in  the  form 
of  accusations  of  heresy.  An  untiring  and  unre- 
mitting effort  was  made  to  fasten  the  whole  ob-' 
loquy  attached  to  the  name  of  Wyclif  upon  Huss 
himself.  In  all  attacks  made  against  the  latter, 
from  now  on  till  the  last  tragic  episode  at  Con- 
stance, the  two  names  were  inextricably  bound 
together. 

The  issues  had  now  been  joined.  Instigated 
by  the  prelates  of  Prague,  Pope  Innocent  VII 
ordered  the  Archbishop  Zbynek  to  take  immediate 
and  drastic  measures  to  destroy  Wyclifism  in  Bo- 
hemia. In  spite  of  the  earnest  efforts  of  such  men 
as  Huss  and  Stanislaus  of  Znaim,  a  decree  was 
passed  May  28,  1403,  to  the  effect  that  hence- 
forth no  member  of  the  university  should  pub- 
licly or  privately  teach  or  help  spread  the  doc- 
trines contained  in  the  twenty-four  articles  of 
Wyclif,  condemned  by  the  London  Council  in 
1382,  or  in  the  additional  twenty-one  articles  now 
extracted  from  Wyclif's  works  by  Master  John 
Hiibner.  This  act  of  condemnation,  as  Palacky 
says,  was  the  first  great  public  act  which  bore 
witness  to  the  deep  cleft  in  the  views  of  Huss's 
contemporaries  concerning  the  Christian  Church 
and  its  teachings.     One  consequence  of  all  these 


Early  Life  and  Activity  oi^  Huss.         55 

things  was  an  increased  bitterness  against  Huss, 
who  never  for  a  moment  ceased  his  sermons  against 
Ecclesiastical  corruptions.  In  spite  of  the  friendly 
feelings  of  the  archbishop,  he  was  forced  to  deprive 
Huss  of  his  position  as  synodal  preacher. 

All  these  merely  local  struggles,  however,  were 
soon  overshadowed  by  events  of  world-wide  im- 
portance. The  one  great  burning  question  in 
all  Christendom  was  now  the  great  schism,  which 
scandalized  all  classes  and  did  more  to  undermine 
the  power  of  the  papacy  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
than  any  other  thing.  The  roots  of  it  run  back 
to  the  times  of  Philip  the  Fair  and  Boniface  VHL 
After  the  death  of  that  celebrated  usurper  of  the 
papal  chair,  who  "came  in  like  a  fox,  ruled  like 
a  lion,  and  died  like  a  dog,"  Benedict  IX  ruled 
the  Church  for  the  short  period  of  eight  months, 
and  in  1305  Bertrand  de  Got,  Archbishop  of  Bor- 
deaux, 

"  Di  ver  ponente  un  pastor  senza  legge,"  * 

made  a  shameful  bargain  with  Philip  the  Fair, 
by  which  he  was  elected  pope  under  the  title  of 
Clement  V,  one  of  the  conditions  being  that  he 
remove  the  seat  of  the  papacy  from  Rome  to 
France. 

Thus  began  the  famous  Babylonian  Captivity  of 
the  papacy,  during  which  Avignon  and  not  Rome 
was  the  center  of  the  Christian  Church.     During 


From  the  West  a  lawless  shepherd."— Dante,  Inferno,  XIX,  83. 


56  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

all  these  years  the  French  popes  were  little  more 
than  the  tools  of  the  King  of  France,  and  Avig- 
non itself  became  a  sink  of  corruption,  both  moral 
and  political,  a  corruption  that  spread  through  all 
lands.  During  the  years  that  followed,  a  stronger 
and  stronger  desire  arose  within  the  Church  for 
the  pope's  return  to  Rome.  Petrarch  in  a  letter 
to  Pope  Urban  V,  elected  in  1362,  used  all  his  elo- 
quence in  urging  him  to  transfer  his  seat  to  the 
Holy  City,  even  going  so  far  as  to  assure  the 
pleasure-loving  cardinals  that  Italy  would  afford 
them  as  good  wines  as  the  South  of  France.  And 
in  similar  manner  did  St.  Catherine  of  Siena  call 
on  his  successor,  Gregory  XI,  to  accomplish  this 
object. 

With  a  part  of  his  cardinals  Gregory  came 
to  Rome  in  1376,  but  died  soon  after.  His 
death  was  the  signal  of  the  most  bitter  quarrels 
between  the  cardinals  of  France  and  those  of  Italy. 
After  many  contests  and  intrigues,  the  cardinals 
who  were  at  Rome  elected  Urban  VI,  a  Neapolitan ; 
but  not  long  after  many  of  those  who  opposed 
the  election  of  an  Italian  pope  went  to  Avignon 
and  protested  against  the  validity  of  Urban's  elec- 
tion, declaring  that  it  had  been  made  under  con- 
straint. Next  they  went  to  Ferredi,  where  they 
could  feel  safe  from  all  interference,  and  elected 
Robert  of  Cambray,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement 
VII.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  schism 
in  the  Western  Church,  which,  as  Neander  says. 


Early  Lifi:  and  Activity  of  Huss.        57 

"Was  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Hnks  in 
the  chain  of  events  which  contributed  to  the  over- 
throw of  the  papal  absolutism  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  to  prepare  for  the  great  reaction  of  the  Chris- 
tian mind  which  took  place  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury." 

This  scandalous  state  of  affairs  divided  all 
Christendom,  one  party,  headed  by  France,  uphold- 
ing Clement  VII,  the  other— including  Germany, 
Hungary,  Poland,  Bohemia,  and  England— in  favor 
of  Urban  VI.  A  third  party,  however,  which  grew 
more  and  more  powerful  as  the  intrigue  and  cor- 
ruption caused  by  the  schism  grew  more  and  more 
scandalous,  remained  neutral,  and  openly  declared 
that  the  only  salvation  for  the  Church  was  the  call 
for  a  general  (Ecumenical  Council. 

This  desire  culminated  in  the  Council  of  Pisa, 
which  met  for  two  chief  reasons:  first,  to  reform 
the  corruption  of  the  clergy;  and  second,  to  put 
an  end  to  the  schism.  At  this  time  Benedict  XIII 
was  pope  at  Avignon,  and  Gregory  XII  pope  at 
Rome.  The  Council  declared  these  men  schismatics 
and  heretics,  deposed  them  from  all  their  ecclesiasti- 
cal dignities,  and  thereupon  proceeded  to  elect  a  new 
pope,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  who  took  the  name 
of  Alexander  V.  He  lived  but  a  short  time,  and 
was  followed  by  one  of  the  most  corrupt  and  ex- 
ecrable characters  in  Church  history,  Balthazar 
Cossa,  stained  with  all  manner  of  vice,  and  even 
accused  of  having  gotten  rid  of  his  predecessor 


58  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

by  poison.  In  1410  he  mounted  the  papal  throne 
under  the  name  of  John  XXIII. 

Alas  for  the  expectations  of  those  who  had 
hoped  so  much  from  the  Council  of  Pisa !  Matters 
became  worse  than  ever.  As  soon  as  he  was  elected 
Alexander  had  dissolved  the  Council  without  keep- 
ing his  promise  to  reform  the  clergy.  Neither 
Benedict  XIII  nor  Gregory  XII  would  resign,  and 
they  were  still  supported  by  many  of  their  princely 
adherents.  Thus  the  election  of  another  pope  had 
only  added  a  new  division  of  parties,  and  the  schism 
now  became  more  scandalous  than  ever. 

In  Bohemia,  King  Wenzel  had  promised  to  keep 
neutral  between  the  two  popes,  Benedict  and  Greg- 
ory, and  had  urged  the  prelates  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Prague  likewise  to  remain  neutral,  as  the 
University  and  prelates  of  Paris  had  done.  Arch- 
bishop Zbynek,  however,  and  the  German  branch 
of  the  University  refused  to  give  up  their  allegiance 
to  Pope  Gregory  XII.  Huss  and  the  Bohemian 
members  of  the  University  openly  declared  in  favor 
of  the  king's  views,  and  advocated  a  neutral  atti- 
tude in  regard  to  the  schism.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  quarrel  between  Huss  and  Zbynek,  who 
hitherto  had  been  favorably  inclined  to  him,  and 
had  approved  of  his  efforts  in  the  way  of  reform. 
It  also  led  to  the  first  Church  censure  pronounced 
against  PIuss.  This  came  in  the  form  of  an  order 
from  the  archbishop  to  stop  his  preaching,  an  order 
which  Huss  refused  to  obey. 


Early  Life  and  Activity  of  Huss.         59 

Closely  connected  with  this  question  of  neu- 
trality was  the  famous  secession  of  the  German 
members  of  the  University  of  Prague,  who,  follow- 
ing the  lead  of  Archbishop  Zbynek,  refused  to  give 
up  their  allegiance  to  Gregory  XII,  in  spite  of  all 
efforts  on  the  part  of  King  Wenzel  to  induce  them 
to  do  so.  This  called  attention  anew  to  a  question 
which  had  before  been  agitated,  and  in  which 
patriotic  fervor  was  to  join  hands  with  religious 
feelings.  Huss,  who  was  an  ardent  patriot,  as  well 
as  reformer,  took  a  leading  part  in  these  events, 
and  was  later,  though  wrongfully,  accused  of  hav- 
ing been  the  chief  instigator  of  the  movement. 
We  have  already  seen  that  of  the  four  nations  con- 
stituting the  University,  three  were  practically  com- 
posed of  Germans ;  thus  the  Polish  nation,  in  spite 
of  its  name,  consisted  chiefly  of  Silesians,  Pomeran- 
ians, and  Prussians.  These  Germans  invariably 
voted  as  one  body  against  the  Bohemians,  whom 
they  thus  outnumbered  three  to  one.  This  they 
did  now  (1409)  in  standing  up  for  Gregory  XII, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  cardinals, 
the  Universities  of  Paris,  Bologna,  and  Oxford, 
and  most  of  the  Christian  rulers  of  the  world  had 
given  him  up. 

There  was  a  certain  element  of  treason  in  this 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  German  nations  of  the 
University,  inasmuch  as  Pope  Gregory  supported 
Rupert,  the  rival  of  King  Wenzel,  as  candidate 
for  the  crown  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.     The 


6o  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

influential  position  of  the  Germans  had  long  been 
a  sore  spot  to  the  Bohemians.  Introduced  in  large 
numbers  by  Charles  IV,  they  had  become  pre- 
dominant, not  only  in  the  University,  where  their 
three  votes  gave  them  a  practical  monopoly,  but 
in  the  city  of  Prague  as  well.  As  they  were  faith- 
ful supporters  of  the  Roman  Church,  they  were 
naturally  bitter  opponents  of  Huss  and  his  re- 
formatory ideas.  On  the  other  hand,  the  great 
body  of  Bohemians  were  his  warm  supporters.  As 
long  as  the  Germans  had  retained  their  influential 
position  in  Prague,  Huss  could  do  little  more  than 
stir  up  strife;  as  soon  as  they  left,  all  Bohemia,  ex- 
cept the  higher  clergy,  became  a  unit  in  his  favor. 
Hence  we  see  that  what  at  first  sight  seems  merely 
a  question  of  local  university  interest,  was  destined 
to  play  an  important  role  in  shaping  the  destiny 
of  the  Hussite  movement. 

The  question  of  votes  on  the  part  of  the  four 
nations  now  had  a  practical  interest.  The  king 
sent  a  commission  to  the  University  of  Paris  to 
inquire  into  the  method  of  voting  in  vogue  there, 
and  on  receiving  the  information  sought  he  im- 
mediately promulgated  a  decree  to  the  effect  that 
hereafter  the  native-born  Bohemian  nation  in  all 
decrees  and  university  business  should  have  three 
votes,  while  the  foreign  nations  should  have  but 
one  between  them.  This  mandate,  published  Janu- 
ary 1 8,  1409,  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  Germans, 
who  at  once  foresaw  that  it  meant  the  loss  forever 


Early  Life  and  Activity  oi^  Huss.        6i 

of  their  influence  in  shaping  the  business  and  teach- 
ings of  the  University.  It  meant  Hkewise  the  utter 
loss  of  prestige  for  the  University  of  Prague  as 
a  cosmopoHtan  institution ;  regarded  up  to  this  time 
as  the  equal  in  learning  and  number  of  students  to 
the  sister  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Paris,  it 
was  soon  to  sink  to  the  level  of  a  national  school 
only. 

Filled  with  indignation  and  excitement,  the 
three  German  nations — the  Saxon,  Bavarian,  and 
Polish— handed  in  to  the  king  on  February  6th 
a  respectful,  though  energetic,  protest  against  the  ' 
royal  decree ;  but  finding  they  could  expect  no  help 
from  him  they  met  together  on  February  i6th, 
and  swore  one  to  the  other  that  they  would  sooner 
leave  the  country  than  accept  the  new  order  of 
things. 

Since  in  the  midst  of  all  these  agitations  there 
was  a  deadlock  in  the  management  of  university 
affairs,  and  no  action  could  be  taken,  the  king 
himself  appointed  a  rector  of  the  University  and  a 
dean  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty,  both  of  them 
Bohemians.  Whereupon  the  German  students  and 
masters,  carrying  out  their  oath,  began  to  leave 
Prague  in  crowds,  some  on  foot,  some  on  horse- 
back, and  some  in  carriages.  It  is  said  that  as 
many  as  two  thousand  left  the  city  in  one  day. 
Practically  no  students  were  left  except  Bohemians. 
The  German  universities,  however,  gained  from 
this  secession ;  not  only  were  those  already  founded 


62  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

increased  in  numbers,  but  a  new  university,  that 
of  Leipzig,  was  organized  this  same  year  of  1409, 
largely  composed  of  students  who  had  left  Prague. 
This  is  the  story  of  the  famous  secession  of  Ger- 
man students  from  Prague,  an  event  fraught  with 
consequence  to  Germany  and  Bohemia  in  general, 
and  to  Huss  and  the  Hussite  movement  in  par- 
ticular. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
HUSS  AND  THE  ROMAN   HIERARCHY. 

For  the  moment,  however,  the  turn  of  affairs 
seemed  favorable  to  King  Wenzel  and  Huss.  The 
Council  of  Pisa  had  recognized  the  former  as  the 
regular  King  of  Rome,  and  had  ignored  the  claims 
of  Rupert.    Huss  himself  was  made  court-preacher. 

The  University  was  reorganized  on  a  new  basis, 
and  as  the  Germans  had  been  the  chief  opponents 
of  the  Wyclif  party,  the  latter  now  rose  to  the  lead- 
ing role  in  the  teachings  of  that  institution.  The 
king,  and  the  nobility  for  the  most  part,  were  on 
their  side;  only  the  archbishop  and  the  higher 
clergy  were  against  them.  Huss  seemed  now  to 
have  reached  the  climax  of  his  glory  and  influence. 
He  was  famous  throughout  the  land.  As  an  evi- 
dence of  his  prominence  we  may  mention  his  elec- 
tion in  October,  1409,  to  be  the  first  rector  of  the 
reorganized  University. 

This  apparent  prosperity,  however,  was  but  of 
short  duration.  His  enemies  v/ere  still  active.  At 
first  apparently  unsuccessful  in  their  attempts  to 
destroy  him,  from  now  on  they  increased  their 
efforts,  and  little  by  little,  aided  by  outward  events, 
and  by  his  own  fearlessness  in  championing  what 

63 


64  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

he  thought  was  right,  and  in  scourging  the  injus- 
tice and  unrighteousness  on  the  part  of  the  pope, 
they  brought  on  the  final  catastrophe  of  141 5. 

Archbishop  Zbynek,  who  had  remained  loyal  to 
Pope  Gregory  XII  during  the  struggle  on  the 
question  of  neutrality  in  regard  to  the  rival  popes, 
a  question  which  as  we  have  seen  was  largely  re- 
sponsible for  the  secession  of  the  German  nations 
from  the  University,  now  suddenly  turned  about 
and  declared  in  favor  of  Alexander  V,  the  new 
pope  elected  by  the  Council  of  Pisa.  This  action 
was  ominous  for  Huss  and  the  Wyclif  party,  for 
almost  immediately  Zbynek  obtained  a  Bull  from 
the  newly  elected  pope,  authorizing  him  to  root 
out  all  heresy  in  his  diocese,  to  prevent  at  all 
hazards  the  spread  of  Wyclif's  doctrines,  to  require 
all  those  who  possessed  copies  of  his  writings  to 
deliver  them  up,  and  to  forbid  all  preaching  except 
in  places  privileged  by  the  Church. 

This  Bull  at  once  relighted  the  slumbering  fires 
of  contest.  Huss  accused  the  archbishop  of  slan- 
dering Bohemia  and  appealed  to  the  pope,  but  in 
vain.  He  was  cited  to  Rome  to  give  account  of 
himself  and  his  teaching  before  the  Papal  See. 
Nor  did  the  death  of  Alexander,  a  short  time  after 
this,  affect  the  condition  of  affairs,  for  the  policy 
of  uncompromising  hostility  to  Huss  was  continued 
by  his  successor,  John  XXIII.       ^ 

In  Prague  itself,  the  Synod,  dominated  by  the 
anti-Huss  party,  declared  on  June  16,  1410,  Wye- 


Huss  AND  THE  Roman  Hierarchy.         65 

lif's  books  to  be  heretical,  and  ordered  all  copies 
in  Prague  to  be  gathered  up  and  publicly  burned. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  University  were  followers  of  Huss, 
they  were  obedient  for  the  most  part  to  this  de- 
cree, and  handed  in  the  copies  of  Wyclif  they 
possessed. 

Still  more  radical,  however,  was  the  decree  for- 
bidding all  preaching  in  private  chapels.  This 
order  struck  Huss  in  his  most  vulnerable  spot. 
Hitherto  he  had  not  been  openly  disobedient  to  the 
highest  ecclesiastical  authorities,  and  in  all  ques- 
tions discussed  he  had  made  an  appeal  directly  to 
the  pope,  as  an  obedient  and  respectful  son  of  the 
Church.  If,  however,  he  now  should  remain  obedi- 
ent and  give  up  his  preaching  at  Bethlehem  Chapel, 
he  would  be  completely  reduced  to  silence.  This 
he  could  not  conscientiously  do,  for  it  seemed  to 
him  that  his  duty  to  God  was  greater  than  that 
to  any  man,  even  the  pope  himself.  From  now 
on  Huss  was  placed  in  a  position  of  contumacy, 
not  merely  against  the  local  archbishop,  but  the 
Church  of  Rome  itself. 

On  June  25,  1410,  he  gathered  his  friends  in 
the  Bethlehem  Chapel,  had  a  true  account  of  the 
whole  matter  drawn  up  by  a  public  notary,  and  In 
the  name  of  the  University  and  practically  all  Bo- 
hemia, nobles,  cities,  and  towns,  sent  a  petition  to 
John  XXIII,  begging  him  to  enjoin  the  archbishop 
from  burning  Wyclif's  books,  and  from  prohibit- 

5 


66  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

ing  preaching  in  the  private  chapels.  During  all 
this  time,  however,  he  never  for  a  day  ceased  to 
preach.  In  similar  manner  the  whole  Universitv, 
doctors,  masters,  and  students,  except  a  few  who 
supported  the  archbishop,  begged  the  king  not  to 
allow  the  burning  of  Wyclif's  books.  Whereupon 
the  king  ordered  Zbynek  to  suspend  action  until 
he,  the  king,  could  examine  the  question  thor- 
oughly. 

In  spite  of  Huss's  appeal  to  the  pope  and  the 
king's  order,  Zbynek,  weary  of  the  delay,  pro- 
ceeded to  carry  out  the  decree  of  the  Synod.  On 
July  1 6th  he  gathered  the  prelates  and  clergy 
together,  surrounded  by  armed  men,  had  the  books 
of  Wyclif  piled  up  in  the  midst,  and  amid  the  sing- 
ing of  the  Te  Detim  Laudamus  had  them  set  on  fire. 
At  the  same  time  the  bells  of  all  the  churches  in 
Prague  announced  to  the  whole  people  what  had 
been  done.  Two  days  after,  July  i8th,  he  pro- 
nounced the  ban  of  the  Church  over  Huss  and  all 
his  friends. 

All  these  events  produced  the  greatest  com- 
motion, not  only  among  the  students,  but  the  great 
body  of  the  people  as  well.  The  whole  city  was 
split  into  two  hostile  factions,  who  not  only  mu- 
tually insulted  each  other  by  means  of  songs  and 
parodies,  but  soon  came  to  acts  of  violence.  At 
one  time  the  archbishop  himself  was  forced  to 
retire  from  the  cathedral  while  celebrating  mass; 
at  another  time  when  a  priest  attempted  to  pro- 
claim from  his  pulpit  the  ban  over  Huss,  six  men 


Huss  AND  THE  Roman  Hierarchy.         67 

with  drawn  swords  attacked  and  nearly  killed  him. 
The  king  made  a  vain  attempt  to  allay  the  storm 
thus  aroused ;  on  the  one  hand  he  forbade  on  pain 
of  death  the  singing  of  satirical  songs,  and  on  the 
other  he  ordered  the  archbishop  to  pay  the  owners 
of  the  books  he  had  burnt;  and  when  the  latter  re- 
fused to  obey  Wenzel  gave  orders  to  stop  the  pay- 
ment of  the  salary  of  all  those  connected  with  the 
burning  of  the  books. 

Thus  affairs  stood  for  some  time  in  a  state  of 
suspense.  Huss  and  his  followers  were  hopeful 
of  final  victory,  confident  as  they  were  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  nobility,  magistrates,  the  common  peo- 
ple, and  even  the  king  and  queen.  Huss  continued 
to  preach  at  Bethlehem  Chapel,  which  was  filled 
by  enormous  crowds.  He  became  more  and  more 
bold,  and  carried  the  audience  with  him.  Once 
when  he  spoke  of  having  appealed  to  the  pope,  he 
asked  his  hearers,  **Will  you  stand  by  me?"  and 
the  whole  vast  congregation  cried  out,  ''Yes,  we 
will  stand  by  you," 

They  soon  found,  however,  that  nothing  was 
to  be  hoped  for  from  the  pope.  On  August  25, 
1410,  he  returned  the  appeal  of  Huss,  confirmed 
the  Bull  of  his  predecessor,  Alexander  V,  re- 
quested the  archbishop  to  continue  the  measures 
already  taken,  and  ordered  Huss  within  a  certain 
time  to  appear  at  the  papal  court,  there  to  give 
account  of  himself.  The  publication  of  this  de- 
cree resulted  in  new  disorders.     The  king  himself, 


68  John  Huss:  Thi^  Witness. 

who  had  no  desire  to  support  the  hierarchy  by 
force,  and  was  favorably  mclined  to  Huss,  wrote 
to  the  pope,  demanding  among  other  things  that 
the  accusation  against  Huss  be  withdrawn,  and 
that  Bethlehem  Chapel  be  restored  to  its   rights. 

This,  too,  was  in  vain,  for  on  March  15,  141 1, 
the  ban  against  Huss  was  proclaimed  in  all  the 
Churches  of  Prague  except  two,  the  priests  of 
which  refused  to  read  it.  As  this  excommunication 
had  no  effect,  the  archbishop  laid  the  whole  city 
of  Prague  under  interdict. 

The  extraordinary  power  and  influence  of  Huss 
was  never  more  apparent  than  at  this  crisi«s^  Al- 
though the  whole  weight  of  ecclesiastical  censure, 
the  malediction  of  the  pope  himself, — the  vice-regent 
of  God  on  earth, — had  been  directed  against  him, 
it  did  not  shake  the  loyalty  of  his  friends-.  Things 
remained  much  as  before;  ban  and  interdict  were 
ignored.  In  many  of  the  churches  servicer  went 
on  as  usual,  and  Huss  continued  his  sermons  at 
Bethlehem. 

Thus  the  cleft  between  the  people  and  the 
clergy  grew  wider  and  wider,  and  the  only  way 
of  bringing  about  a  reconciliation  was  for  both 
parties  to  show  something  of  a  spirit  of  compro- 
mise. A  plan  was  formed  by  the  king,  by  means 
of  which  both  Huss  and  Zbynek  should  promise 
to  abide  by  the  decision  of  a  committee  of  arbi- 
trators appointed  by  the  king.  On  July  6th  the 
report  of  the  committee  was  made  public.    Among 


Huss  AND  THE  Roman  Hierarchy.         69 

other  things  it  recommended  that  the  whole  matter 
under  discussion  should  be  taken  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  pope,  and  settled  in  Bohemia  itself;  that  the 
archbishop  be  requested  to  sign  a  document  ad- 
dressed to  the  pope,  to  the  effect  that  in  the  course 
of  his  investigations  he  had  not  found  either  in 
Bohemia  or  Moravia  any  heresy ;  that  he  had  come 
to  a  complete  understanding  with  Huss  and  the 
University  through  the  mediation  of  the  king ;  and 
that  he  therefore  requested  John  XXHI  to  recall 
the  censure  on  Huss,  and  especially  the  command 
to  appear  before  the  Roman  Curia.  On  the  other 
side,  Huss  was  to  agree  to  take  certain  similar 
steps  toward  bringing  to  an  end  the  contest  be- 
tween them. 

It  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  finally  a  reconcili- 
ation, or  at  least  a  modus  vivcndi,  was  at  hand. 
At  the  last  moment,  however,  the  archbishop  failed 
them.  He  left  Prague  secretly,  sending  word  to 
the  king  that  since  he  could  not  obtain  an  im- 
partial hearing  in  Bohemia  he  had  gone  to  Wen- 
zel's  brother,  Sigismund,  king  of  Hungary.  This 
journey  was  fatal  to  him;  he  fell  sick  not  long 
after  he  had  crossed  the  frontiers  of  Moravia,  and 
died  at  Presburg,  September  28,  141 1.  His  body 
was  brought  back  to  Prague,  and  buried  amid  gen- 
eral expressions  of  sorrow,  for  even  his  enemies 
had  never  denied  him  the  credit  of  a  good  life 
and  a  well-meaning  heart.  Huss  himself  had  never 
concealed  his  respect  for  his  character. 


70  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

After  the  death  of  Zbynek  a  momentary  truce 
took  place  between  Huss  and  his  opponents.  The 
new  archbishop,  Albic  of  Unitzow,  ah'eady  well 
along  in  years,  was  by  no  means  the  man  to  con- 
tinue the  aggressive  policy  of  his  predecessor.  Had 
it  not  been  for  new  events,  or  rather  if  Huss  had 
not  found  new  fields  for  his  reformatory  zeal,  it 
is  probable  that  the  whole  storm  might  have  ended 
in  peace  and  quiet. 

The  occasion  of  a  new  outburst  of  hate  and 
bitterness  against  Huss,  an  outburst  this  time  not 
to  be  stilled  before  his  death  at  the  stake,  was  the 
arrival  in  Bohemia  of  Wenzel  Tiem,  commissioned 
by  the  pope  to  preach  a  crusade  against  Ladislaus 
of  Naples,  and  to  sell  indulgences  toward  that  end. 
We  have  seen  how  the  Council  of  Pisa  had  failed 
to  abolish  the  schism,  and  had  only  succeeded  in 
adding  to  the  general  disgust  by  electing  a  third 
pope.  It  is  true  that  most  of  the  rulers  of  Europe 
had  abandoned  Benedict  and  Gregory,  yet  some 
still  remained  faithful  to  them.  Among  those  who 
still  supported  Gregory  XH  was  Ladislaus,  king 
of  Naples,  who  had  driven  John  XXHI  from 
Rome,  whither  he  had  come  from  Bologna. 

This  action  roused  to  a  fury  all  the  evil  pas- 
sions of  that  pope.  He  issued  a  Bull  of  excom- 
munication against  Ladislaus,  and  ordered  a  cru- 
sade to  be  preached  against  him  in  all  lands  which 
acknowledged  his  own  ecclesiastical  authority, 
promising  the  same  indulgence  to  all  the  faithful 


Huss  AND  THE  Roman  Hierarchy.         71 

who  should  either  fight  in  person  or  furnish  money 
toward  the  carrying  on  of  the  war,  as  had  hitherto 
been  promised  to  all  those  who  took  part  in  the 
crusades  against  the  Pagans.  In  May,  1412,  the 
above  mentioned  papal  legate,  Wenzel  Tiem,  came 
to  Prague  to  conduct  the  sale  of  indulgences  in 
Bohemia;  and  as  the  king  and  archbishop  made 
no  objections,  the  business  was  soon  in  full  sway. 
"The  agents  of  Tiem  appeared  in  the  market- 
places, each  time  accompanied  by  drummers,  and 
invited  the  people  to  contribute  to  the  expenses  of 
the  pope  in  his  war  against  Ladislaus,  either  with 
money  or  goods.  Three  boxes  were  established  in 
the  three  principal  churches  of  Prague,  in  which 
the  money  was  to  be  collected.  Great  crowds  gath- 
ered around,  and  a  lively  business  was  carried  on." 

The  whole  affair,  however,  created  a  great  stir 
among  the  people.  Huss  himself  could  not  restrain 
his  indignation.  He  announced,  by  means  of  plac- 
ards posted  on  the  walls  throughout  the  city,  that 
a  disputation  would  be  held  June  7th  on  the  sub- 
ject, ''Whether  according  to  the  laws  of  Christ  it 
was  for  the  honor  of  God,  the  well-being  of  Chris- 
tian people,  and  the  best  interests  of  the  kingdom, 
for  the  followers  of  Christ  to  obey  the  commands  of 
the  pope  in  the  matter  of  his  crusade  against  Ladis- 
laus." 

This  disputation  promised  to  reopen  the  old 
contest  between  Huss  and  the  hierarchy,  and  the 
Theological  Faculty  of  the  University  besought  the 


72  John  Huss:  Th^  Witness. 

archbishop  to  forbid  its  being  held.  In  spite  of 
this,  however,  the  disputation  took  place  amid  the 
greatest  excitement.  Huss  boldly  declared  that 
while  the  temporal  power  had  the  right  to  carry 
on  wars,  neither  the  pope  nor  bishops  were  ever 
justified  in  wielding  the  sword  in  the  name  of 
the  Church.  Christ  himself  had  disapproved  of 
using  violence  when  He  was  betrayed  by  Judas, 
and  had  healed  the  ear  of  the  servant  of  the 
high  priest,  wounded  by  one  of  His  followers. 
He  had  prayed  for  those  who  had  persecuted 
Him:  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do."  If  the  pope  wishes  to  overcome 
his  enemies,  let  him  pray  for  them  as  Christ 
did;  then  will  the  Lord  give  him  wisdom,  so  that 
his  enemies  can  hold  out  no  longer  against  him. 
He  especially  scourged  the  whole  system  of 
selling  indulgenees,  as  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
spirit  of  Christ  and  the  teaching  of  the  gospel. 
The  power  of  the  priest  to  forgive  sins  rested  only 
on  repentance  and  contrition  on  the  part  of  the 
guilty  one;  based  on  the  payment  of  money  or 
property,  it  was  simony  pure  and  simple,  for  had 
not  the  Savior  said,  "Freely  ye  have  received,  freely 
give?"  The  same  thing  applied  to  the  pope,  and 
the  declaration  made  by  some  that  the  pope  was 
infallible  he  declared  to  be  not  only  false,  but 
sacrilegious;  for  this  would  make  the  pope  equal 
to  Christ  Himself.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
these  bold  statements  were  not  received  without 


HUSS   AND    THE    RoMAN    HIERARCHY.  73 

Strenuous  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  adherents 
of  the  hierachy. 

Although  Huss  was  the  leader  in  this  disputa- 
tion, owing  to  his  prominent  position  as  the  head 
of  his  party,  yet  not  to  him  were  accorded  the 
honors  of  the  day,  but  to  Jerome  of  Prague,  who 
in  a  fiery  and  eloquent  speech  so  worked  on  the 
feelings  of  his  hearers  that  he  was  given  an  ovation 
and  was  accompanied  to  his  house  by  the  enthusi- 
astic student  body. 

The  disputation  was  followed  by  an  event  which 
tended  still  more  to  increase  the  hatred  between 
the  two  parties.  A  number  of  university  men, 
among  them  Jerome  of  Prague,  organized  a  parody 
of  the  scene  two  years  before,  when  the  books  of 
Wyclif  had  been  publicly  burnt.  A  magnificent 
procession  was  instituted,  in  the  midst  of  which 
two  courtesans  sat  on  a  wagon,  each  with  one  of 
the  pope's  Bulls  hanging  from  her  neck  by  means 
of  ribbons,  while  before  and  behind  them  marched 
a  great  crowd  of  men  armed  with  swords  and 
clubs.  Pausing  for  a  time  before  the  archbishop's 
palace,  they  proceeded  to  the  market-place  in  the 
new  city,  where  a  funeral  pyre  was  erected,  on 
v/hich  the  papal  Bulls  were  burnt. 

King  Wenzel  allowed  this  public  disturbance 
to  go  unpunished,  but  at  the  same  time  he  pub- 
lished a  decree  against  any  further  insult  to  the 
pope  or  opposition  to  the  Bull  of  Indulgences,  on 
pain  of  death.     Nevertheless  the  disturbances  still 


74  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

went  on.  In  three  different  churches  three  young 
men,  apparently  having  agreed  beforehand,  when 
the  preacher  defended  the  indulgences  cried  out 
aloud:  ''You  lie.  We  have  heard  from  Master 
Huss  how  all  that  is  false."  They  were  cast  out 
of  church,  flogged,  and  haled  before  the  magis- 
trates, by  whom  they  were  subjected  to  torture,  and 
when  they  could  not  be  forced  to  yield  were  sen- 
tenceci  to  death. 

The  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar.  Huss  felt 
it  his  duty  to  make  an  effort  to  rescue  the  unfortu- 
nate men.  Followed  by  a  great  crowd  of  students 
and  a  number  of  Masters,  he  went  to  the  Town 
Hall,  and  on  being  admitted  to  the  presence  of  the 
Senate  begged  earnestly  for  the  lives  of  the  pris- 
oners. ''If  any  one  is  guilty,"  he  said,  "it  is  I. 
I  have  done  it.  I  and  all  these  who  are  with  me 
are  ready  to  bear  the  same  punishment."  The 
magistrates,  alarmed  at  this  demonstration,  prom- 
ised that  no  blood  should  be  shed.  Whereupon 
Huss  quieted  the  crowd,  which  rapidly  dispersed. 
The  young  men  in  the  meantime  were  secretly 
hurried  away  and  decapitated.  This  treacherous 
and  cruel  act  raised  the  public  excitement  to  its 
highest  point.  A  woman  brought  clean  linen  cloths 
to  embalm  the  bodies,  which  were  carried  in  pro- 
cession to  the  Bethlehem  Chapel,  where,  with  the 
assistance  of  Huss,  they  were  solemnly  interred. 
Henceforth  the  three  young  men  were  looked  upon 
by  the  Hussites  as  martyrs,  and  Bethlehem  Chapel 


Huss  AND  THE  Roman  Hikrarchy.         75 

was  mockingly  dubbed  by  their  adversaries  as  the 
"Chapel  of  the  Three  Saints." 

The  anti-Huss  party  were  driven  to  desperation 
by  all  these  things.  They  sent  a  message  to  Pope 
John  XXIII,  calling  his  attention  to  the  fact  that 
for  more  than  two  years  Huss  had  been  under  the 
ban  of  the  Church ;  that  he  had  continued  to  teach 
the  doctrines  of  Wyclif,  and  that  now  he  was  op- 
posing bitterly  the  preaching  of  the  crusades 
against  Ladislaus  and  the  sale  of  indulgences,  his 
writings  on  this  subject  having  been  scattered  far 
and  wide  over  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Hungary,  and 
Poland.  This  message  was  communicated  to  Pope 
John  through  the  agent  of  the  Prague  clergy  at 
Rome,  Michael  of  Deutschbrod,  better  known  under 
the  name  of  De  Causis.  He  was  destined  to  be 
one  of  the  chief  instruments  of  the  condemnation 
and  execution  of  Huss  at  the  Council  of  Constance. 

The  pope  at  once  saw  the  seriousness  of  the 
situation,  and  commissioned  Cardinal  Peter  St.  An- 
gelo  to  proceed  against  Huss  with  the  utmost  se- 
verity. He  further  ordered  the  ban  of  excom- 
munication to  be  proclaimed  in  all  the  churches 
of  Prague,  and  in  case  Huss  should  still  remain 
obstinate,  within  twenty  days,  on  Sundays  and 
holidays,  in  all  the  churches,  amid  the  ringing 
of  bells  and  extinguishing  of  candles,  the  curse  of 
the  Church  should  be  laid  upon  him.  No  faithful 
member  of  the  Church,  under  penalty  of  excom- 
munication, should  have  anything  to  do  with  him, 


76  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

should  give  him  food  or  drink  or  shelter ;  wherever 
he  should  appear,  divine  service  should  cease  at 
once;  and  if  he  should  die  no  one  should  give 
him  Christian  burial.  Other  decrees  ordered  the 
faithful  to  seize  the  person  of  Huss  and  to  deliver 
him  up  to  the  Archibshop  of  Prague  or  the  Bishop 
Leitomisl,  and  to  see  to  it  that  Bethlehem  Chapel 
should  be  razed  to  the  ground. 

This  seemed  to  produce  an  effect  at  last.  The 
magistrates  of  the  Old  City,  for  the  most  part  Ger- 
mans and  enemies  of  Huss,  authorized  a  great 
crowd  of  men  to  proceed  to  Bethlehem  Chapel, 
where  Huss  was  preaching,  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  out  the  congregation,  taking  Huss  himself 
prisoner,  and  destroying  the  chapel.  But  they  met 
with  such  a  firm  resistance  on  the  part  of  Huss's 
friends,  that  they  were  forced  to  depart  again  with 
their  object  unaccomplished. 

Yet  while  on  the  one  hand  the  interdict  only 
served  to  strengthen  the  loyalty  of  Huss's  friends, 
on  the  other  hand  it  was  a  crisis  in  which  the  weak 
and  cowardly  were  to  be  separated  from  the  brave 
and  true.  A  number  of  those,  who  had  been  on 
Huss's  side  in  the  whole  question  of  Wyclifism, 
now  became  frightened,  and  left  him.  Among 
them  were  Stanislaus  of  Znaim,  Peter  of  Znaim, 
and  Stephen  Paletz.  Indeed,  it  was  to  these  men 
that  Huss  chiefly  owed  his  training  in  philosophy; 
as  the  popular  genealogy  had  put  it,  ''Stanislaus 
begat  Peter,  Peter  begat  Paletz,  and  Paletz  begat 
Huss." 


Huss  AND  TiiK  Roman  Hierarchy.         77 

All  these  men  became  his  bitterest  enemies, 
especially  Stephen  Paletz,  who  with  Michael  de 
Causis  led  the  hostile  party  at  Constance,  and  left 
no  stone  unturned  to  bring  about  the  condemnation 
of  his  former  friend.  Of  Paletz,  Huss  writes  in 
1413:  "He  was  once  my  closest  friend  and  com- 
panion; now  he  has  become  my  most  hateful  op- 
ponent." There  is  a  certain  pathos  in  this  breaking 
up  of  a  friendship  of  many  years  standing;  on  the 
side  of  Paletz  the  motive  was  fear;  on  the  side  of 
Huss  it  was  love  of  truth.  Paletz,  completely  re- 
versing his  former  attitude  in  regard  to  Wyclif, 
now  preached  a  sermon  in  which  he  called  him 
a  dangerous  heretic;  whereupon,  writes  Huss  in 
1413,  '*I  said  to  him,  and  I  have  not  spoken  to  him 
since,  'My  friend  is  Paletz,  and  my  friend  is  like- 
wise the  truth ;  between  these  two  duty  bids  me  to 
prefer  the  truth.'  " 

On  the  other  hand,  Huss  was  cheered  by  the 
loyalty  of  many  distinguished  men,  among  them 
Jerome  of  Prague,  destined  to  follow  him  to  the 
stake  at  Constance;  Jacob  of  Mies,  or  Jacobel  as 
he  was  called,  who  was  the  leader  of  the  discus- 
sions on  the  administration  of  the  communion  in 
tvv^o  kinds  to  the  laity,  thus  giving  rise  later  to  the 
party  of  the  Calixtines;  and  John  of  Jessinic,  who 
became  the  head  of  the  reformatory  movement  after 
the  death  of  Huss. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  interdict  over 
the   city   of   Prague,   because   of   the   presence   of 


78  John  Huss:  Thk  Witne:ss. 

Huss,  remained  in  force.  No  services  were  held, 
no  baptisms  or  marriages  could  be  celebrated,  nor 
could  the  dead  be  buried  according  to  the  rites  of 
Holy  Church.  The  seriousness  of  this  state  of 
affairs  led  the  king  to  request  Huss  voluntarily 
to  leave  the  city.  This  he  did  December,  141 2,  not 
without  many  misgivings  as  to  what  was  his  real 
duty,  whether  to  go  or  to  stay. 


CHAPTER  V. 
HUSS  IN  EXILE. 

The:  first  important  step  taken  by  Hitss  after 
he  had  left  Prague  was  his  appeal  from  the  pope 
to  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  read  himself  from  the 
pulpit  in  Prague,  whither  he  returned  temporarily 
for  that  purpose.  This  appeal  created  a  tremen- 
dous excitement,  both  among  his  friends  and  ene- 
mies, the  latter  being  filled  with  rage  at  what  they 
called  his  blasphemy. 

At  the  same  time,  however,  strenuous  efforts 
were  still  kept  up  to  bring  about  a  compromise  in 
the  struggle  which  threatened  to  disrupt  the  whole 
country.  On  January  3,  141 3,  a  new  Synod  was 
held,  in  which  was  discussed  the  question,  *'How 
to  restore  peace  to  Bohemia."  It  was  a  foregone 
conclusion,  however,  that  all  these  discussions  were 
destined  to  come  to  naught.  On  the  one  hand  the 
king  had  no  desire  to  carry  out  the  pope's  com- 
mands, and  on  the  other  there  was  an  irreconcilable 
difference  between  Huss's  views  of  the  Bible  and 
the  real  Church  of  Christ,  and  the  unyielding  claim 
of  supreme  power  over  all  men's  consciences  made 
by  the  Roman  hierarchy.  At  last  the  king  ap- 
pointed a  commission  to  go  over  the  whole  ques- 
tion. 

79 


8o  John  Huss:  Th^  Witness. 

The  members  of  the  commission  began  their 
work.  They  summoned  the  leading  men  of  both 
parties,  Stanislaus  of  Znaim,  Peter  of  Znaim,  and 
Paletz  on  the  one  side,  and  John  of  Jessinic  and 
Jacob  of  Mies  on  the  other.  Huss  being  practically 
exiled  from  Prague,  of  course  could  not  appear. 
Both  sides  promised  to  obey  the  decision  of  the 
commission.  But  once  more  irreconcilable  differ- 
ences stood  in  the  way.  King  Wenzel  became  more 
and  more  impatient,  and  finally  when  Paletz  and 
Znaim  refused  to  attend  the  meetings  any  further, 
on  the  ground  that  the  proceedings  were  not  im- 
partial, he  lost  control  of  his  temper,  and  in  order 
to  punish  them  for  their  obstinacy  and  disobedience 
he  banished  them  from  his  kingdom. 

This  action  was  successful  in  one  sense.  Stan- 
islaus and  Peter  of  Znaim  went  to  Moravia,  and 
from  this  time  on  disappear  from  the  story  of 
Huss's  life.  Stephen  Paletz  went  to  the  Bishop  of 
Leitomisl,  whom  he  later  accompanied  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constance,  where  he  achieved  the  baleful 
notoriety  of  being  the  protagonist  in  all  the  ef- 
forts, both  open  and  underhanded,  made  to  destroy 
his  former  friend  and  colleague.  Naturally  enough, 
Huss  was  later  accused  of  being  the  cause  of  their 
banishment,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  neither  he  nor 
Jerome  were  at  Prague  at  the  time. 

Of  the  life  of  Huss  during  the  period  of  what 
we  might  call  his  exile  little  detail  is  known.  He 
first  went  to  Kotzi-hradek,  near  the  town  of  Austi, 


Huss  IN  Exile.  8i 

where  afterward  the  famous  settlement  of  Tabor 
was  made,  which  became  the  real  center  of  Hussit- 
ism  in  Bohemia,  a  result  due  undoubtedly  to  Huss's 
presence  there  now.  Later,  however,  he  went  to 
the  castle  of  Krakowec,  not  far  from  Prague. 

During  all  this  time  he  was  busy  in  two  ways; 
first,  in  preaching;  and  secondly,  in  writing.  His 
extraordinary  power  of  moving  the  people  by  ser-. 
mons  at  once  clear  and  full  of  fervid  devotion  was 
manifested  now  by  the  immense  crowds  who 
flocked  from  all  directions  to  hear  him.  It  was 
during  this  time  that  he  laid  among  the  peasants 
the  basis  of  that  vast  organization  which  after- 
wards became  such  a  tremendous  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  Ziska  and  the  two  Procopiuses. 

In  the  second  place,  he  occupied  the  enforced 
leisure  of  his  exile  in  composing  those  books  in 
which  he  summed  up  the  main  points  of  his  teach- 
ings. Perhaps  no  literary  work  of  his  was  more 
important  than  his  revision  of  an  old  translation  of 
the  Bible  in  the  Bohemian  language  made  by  an 
unknown  writer  of  the  fourteenth  century.  In  this 
way  he,  like  Luther  later,  not  only  made  the  Holy 
Scriptures  accessible  to  the  common  people,  but 
influenced  strongly  the  development  of  his  native 
tongue.  Says  Palacky:  "As  a  writer  in  Bohemian 
he  stood  up  for  purity,  and  not  only  sought  to  regu- 
late the  language  by  means  of  firm  rules,  but  he  in- 
vented a  new  system  of  orthography  which  recom- 
mended itself  so  much  by  means  of  its  simplicity, 
6 


82  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witni^ss. 

precision,  and  consistency,  that  in  the  sixteenth 
century  it  was  adopted  by  printers,  and  since  then 
has  been  followed  down  to  the  present  day." 

He  especially  devoted  himself  during  this  time, 
however,  to  putting  down  in  permanent  form  his 
reformatory  ideas.  It  was  the  spread  of  his  writ- 
ings, largely  composed  at  this  time,  that  made  his 
influence  grow  more  and  more  powerful  through- 
out the  land.  This  was  especially  true  of  his  treat- 
ise on  the  Church. 

Before  following  him  to  Constance,  then,  it  will 
be  well  to  try  to  obtain  as  clear  an  idea  as  possible 
of  his  doctrines,  especially  in  so  far  as  they  differ 
from  those  of  the  Church  at  that  time.  We  shall 
thus  be  able  better  to  understand  the  accusations 
made  against  him,  and  to  appreciate  the  angry  pas- 
sions which  made  his  trial  a  mockery  and  his  con- 
demnation a  foregone  conclusion. 

It  is  not  the  place  here  to  go  into  detail  as  to 
Huss's  whole  creed.  He  was  in  harmony  with  the 
Church  in  many  points  which  Protestantism  has 
since  abolished.  Thus  he  believed  devoutly  in  the 
Virgin  Mary,  in  the  worship  of  saints,  and  in  the 
seven  sacraments.  A  great  deal  of  discussion  has 
been  made  as  to  his  attitude  toward  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation.  This  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal points  urged  against  him  at  Constance.  Yet 
when  we  carefully  go  over  his  writings,  we  can 
not  find  any  proof  that  he  differed  in  this  ques- 
tion from  the  established  doctrine  of  the  Church. 


sf 


Huss  IN  Exii^e:.  83 

While  he  followed  Wyclif  in  many  respects,  he 
did  not  follow  him  here.  It  is  a  significant  fact 
that  he  was  not  accused  of  this  form  of  heresy 
during  the  early  years  of  his  reformatory  activity; 
not  indeed  before  1412,  when  Michael  de  Causis 
in  his  complaint  to  Pope  John  XXIII  declared  that 
Huss  had  said  from  his  pulpit  in  the  Bethlehem 
Chapel  that  after  the  consecration  of  the  wafer  on 
the  altar  nothing  but  the  natural  bread  remained. 
Huss,  however,  vigorously  protested  against  this 
statement,  and  in  his  third  and  last  hearing  before 
the  Council,  when  they  wished  him  to  sign  a  re- 
cantation, begged  them  for  God's  sake  not  to  force 
him  to  lie,  in  regard  to  a  heresy  ''of  which  I  know 
nothing,  and  concerning  which  witnesses  have  de- 
clared things  which  it  never  entered  my  head  to 
say,  especially  that  after  consecration  the  bread 
still  remained." 

The  essential  significance  of  Huss's  teaching, 
that  which  makes  him  the  true  forerunner  of 
Luther  and  Protestantism,  and  that  which  led  to 
his  condemnation  and  death,  consists  in  his  at- 
titude toward  tw^o  important  doctrines,  which  he 
consistently  taught  from  first  to  last, — the  ulti- 
mate authority  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  real 
constitution  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  In  these 
two  points  he  was  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
clergy  and  the  Roman  hierarchy.  If  he  was 
right,  then  their  power  was  based  on  false  prem- 
ises and  threatened  with  ultimate  destruction.    All 


84  John  Huss:  The  Witni^ss. 

the  patient  building  of  the  structure  of  ecclesias- 
tical authority,  with  its  marvelous  system  of  hier- 
archical gradation  from  the  lowest  priest  to  the 
supreme  pontiff,  must  crumble  and  fall  to  pieces. 
It  was  no  mere  academic  thesis  which  was  fought 
out  at  Constance,  but  the  question  of  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  Roman  Church. 

Although  Huss  did  not  dream  of  the  logical 
conclusion  of  his  teachings,  yet  they  were  in  spirit 
the  same  as  that  held  to-day  by  the  gieat  ma- 
jority of  Protestant  Churches.  What  a  vast 
difference  there  was  between  this  view  of  the 
Church  and  that  of  the  hierarchical  system  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  it  is  not  necessary  here  to 
dwell  upon.  In  place  of  the  simple  organization 
of  the  apostolic  community,  a  vast  system  based 
on  that  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  grown  up.  God 
had  deputed  all  His  power  on  earth,  both  temporal 
and  spiritual,  to  the  pope  as  His  own  vice-regent. 
Not  to  believe  in  this  v/as  a  mortal  sin.  God  was 
afar  off,  and  could  only  be  approached  by  man 
through  the  mediation  of  priests.  The  Church 
itself  consisted  in  the  whole  body  of  the  baptized. 
Whoever  did  not  belong  to  the  visible  Church,  was 
excluded  from  the  mercy  and  grace  of  God ;  outside 
the  Church  no  salvation.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  conformed  outwardly  to  the  services,  who 
attended  the  sacraments  and  humbly  obeyed  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  were  considered  to  be 
members  in  good  and  regular  standing  of  the  Holy 


Huss  IN  Exile.  85 

Church.  All  this,  of  course,  as  every  one  knows, 
was  based  on  the  words  of  Christ  to  Peter  (Mat- 
thew xvi,  17-19)  :  ''And  I  say  also  unto  thee,  that 
thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
Church;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of 
heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 

Against  this  whole  ecclesiastical  system  Huss 
raised  his  voice.  He  declared  that  the  Church  con- 
sisted of  the  w^hole  body  of  the  elect;  that  it  is 
built  alone  on  Christ,  w^ho  is  its  sole  head.  Stephen 
Paletz  and  Stanislaus  of  Znaim  had  declared  in 
their  discussion  with  him — what  was  held  univer- 
sally at  that  time — that  the  pope  as  the  successor 
of  Peter  was  the  head,  and  the  cardinals  as  the 
successors  of  the  apostles  were  the  body  of  the 
Church. 

In  reply  to  this,  Huss  denied  that  in  the  words 
of  Christ  quoted  above  He  had  meant  any  such 
thing;  that  neither  Peter  nor  any  other  apostle 
had  claimed  such  authority;  that  as  one  can  easily 
see  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  primitive 
Church  was  not  a  government  of  one  man,  but  of 
all  alike.  The  whole  system  of  the  papacy  was 
false,  based  on  the  (alleged)  gift  of  Constantine. 
He  shows  how  many  popes  had  been  heretics  and 
men  of  corrupt  life ;  nay,  one  had  been  a  woman  in 
disguise.    But  not  only  did  he  repudiate  the  papacy, 


86  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

but  the  whole  system  of  the  clergy,  scourging 
them  for  their  luxury,  avarice,  envy,  and  bitter 
quarrels. 

By  his  destructive  criticism  of  these  and  many 
other  features  of  Romanism,  he  practically  de- 
stroys the  whole  mediaeval  Church.  He  would 
have  it  fundamentally  reorganized.  Every  nation 
should  have  its  own  Church,  independent  of  outside 
authority.  The  various  members  of  it  should  be 
equal,  laity  as  well  as  clergy.  The  temporal  princes 
should  defend  the  law  of  Christ  and  protect  His 
servants;  the  clergy  should  attend  strictly  to  their 
function  of  preaching  and  administering^  the  sacra- 
ments, and  should,  by  giving  the  example  of  a 
holy  life,  endeavor  to  draw  all  men  to  Christ.  The 
laity  should  obey  their  natural  lords,  and  both 
princes  and  people  should  be  obedient  to  the  clergy 
in  spiritual  things,  yet  not  unconditionally  even 
here. 

In  all  these  things  we  see  that  Huss  was  in 
harmony  with  Luther.  Yet  he  was  not  a  Protestant 
in  the  full  sense  of  the  word.  He  did  not  get  be- 
yond the  Pelagianism  of  the  mediaeval  Church.  In 
all  his  utterances  concerning  grace,  faith,  and  works 
he  resembled  far  more  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  than  he 
did  the  famous  doctrine  of  Luther,  "The  just  shall 
live  by  faith." 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  what  bitterness  such  bold 
declarations  concerning  the  Church  must  have  pro- 
duced among  the  members  of  the  hierarchy.     It 


Huss  IN  ExiIvE:.  ^7 

was  useless,  nay,  it  was  foolhardiness,  for  him  to  go 
to  the  Council,  for  as  it  was  a  question  of  life  and 
death  for  the  papacy  there  could  be  no  possible 
compromise.  There  could  not  be  the  slightest 
doubt  that  unless  Huss  retracted  he  would  be 
condemned.  His  friends  tried  to  keep  him  from 
going ;  he  himself  had  a  presentiment  that  he  would 
never  return.  A  calm  deliberation  of  the  circum- 
stances could  have  pointed  to  no  other  conclusion. 
It  was  the  "underthirst"  for  martyrdom,  which 
Palacky  mentions  as  one  of  his  characteristics, 
which  alone  could  have  caused  him  to  go  to 
Constance,  where  an  inevitable  death  awaited 
him. 

In  his  conception,  then,  of  the  Church,  Huss 
was  in  full  agreement  with  the  later  movement  of 
Protestantism.  Still  more  is  this  true  in  regard 
to  his  views  concerning  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We 
have  seen  that  w^hen  he  had  first  been  appointed 
preacher  at  the  Bethlehem  Chapel  he  had  been  led 
to  a  profound  study  of  the  Bible,  as  a  necessary 
means  of  preparation  for  his  sermons.  We  have 
also  seen  that  during  his  exile  he  spent  part  of  his 
time  in  revising  and  preparing  for  the  public  a 
Bohemian  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 

Yet  in  his  public  declarations  concerning  the 
Bible  as  the  only  ultimate  authority  in  all  questions 
of  faith  and  conduct,  Huss  followed  closely  Wyclif, 
especially  the  latter's  treatise  on  the  "Truth  of  the 
Holy  Scripture."     The  arguments  he  found  there 


88  John  Huss:  Th^  Witni:ss. 

he  took  over,  enlarged  and  carried  out  to  the  log- 
ical conclusion.  Every  Christian  is  bound  to  be- 
lieve all  the  truth,  direct  or  indirect,  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  laid  down  in  the  Bible.  The  claims 
of  the  Doctors  of  the  Church  and  the  Bulls  of  the 
pope  are  only  to  be  attended  to  so  far  as  they  are 
based  on  the  Scriptures.  The  same  thing  is  trtle 
concerning  the  authority  of  the  Synods,  Councils, 
and  the  teachings  of  the  Church  Fathers.  These 
Huss  does  not  deny,  except  in  such  cases  where  they 
do  not  harmonize  with  the  Bible.  This  alone  is 
the  source  of  Christian  truth.  Over  and  over  again 
he  emphasizes  this  doctrine;  it  is  the  keynote  in  all 
his  writings.  And  while  it  is  true  that  it  was  his 
arraignment  of  the  papacy  and  hierarchy  which 
chiefly  led  his  enemies  to  procure  his  death,  it  was 
the  unshakable  belief  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the 
ultimate  rule  of  faith  that  made  him  immovable 
in  the  face  of  hatred,  abuse,  and  even  death  at  the 
stake.  He  died  a  martyr's  death  because  he  would 
not  give  up  his  belief  in  the  Bible. 

It  was  this  firm  and  serene  confidence  in  the 
power  of  truth  that  makes  the  name  of  Huss  so 
glorious  in  the  annals  of  the  Church.  As  a  thinker 
he  was  not  to  be  compared  with  Wyclif ;  as  a  keen 
disputant  and  eloquent  orator  he  was  inferior  to 
his  younger  contemporary,  Jerome  of  Prague;  and 
he  by  no  means  had  the  administrative  ability  and 
indomitable  energy  that  enabled  Luther  to  carry 
out  his  mighty  work. 


Huss  IN  Exile.  .  89 

His  character  was  rather  gentle  than  strong; 
and  he  was  better  fitted  to  be  the  spiritual  director 
of  his  people  than  the  leader  of  a  bitter  controversy 
marked  by  the  clangor  of  angry  tongues.  In  a 
memorial  sermon  preached  in  Bethlehem  Chapel 
after  the  death  of  Huss,  an  unknown  preacher 
said :  *'God  gave  him  a  practiced  tongue,  so  that 
he  knew  when  he  should  speak;  he  had  love  and 
compassion  for  all  men,  even  his  enemies  and  per- 
secutors. He  was  moral  and  blameless  and  devout, 
free  from  envy,  avarice,  and  flattery."  But  with 
all  these  attributes  of  a  quiet  and  loving  dispo- 
sition, Huss  possessed  a  deep  love  for  truth  and  an 
unshakable  faith  in  the  power  of  God,  which  made 
him  stand  undismayed  in  the  face  of  death, 

"  Sotto  I'osbergo  di  sentirsi  puro."  * 


*  "Under  the  breast-plate  of  a  clear  conscience." — Dante,  Inferno, 
XXVIII,  117, 


CHAPTER  VI. 
HUSS  GOES  TO  CONSTANCE. 

We:  have  now  come  to  the  parting  of  the  ways 
in  the  life  of  John  Huss.  The  long  period  of  con- 
test, of  vain  efforts  at  compromise,  had  reached 
its  climax.  The  influence  of  Huss  had  spread 
over  the  whole  extent  of  Bohemia,  and  his  heretical 
doctrines  filled  the  members  of  the  Roman  Church 
with  the  bitterest  hatred  throughout  all  Christen- 
dom. A  general  feeling  existed  that  something 
must  be  done  to  prevent  the  further  spread  of  the 
mischief.  One  thing  alone  was  left  to  do,  and  that 
was  to  submit  the  whole  question  to  the  decision 
of  an  CEcumenical  Council.  Huss  himself,  who 
was  far  from  realizing  the  profound  revolution 
and  the  irreconcilable  differences  involved  in  his 
doctrines,  was  eager  to  present  his  case  before  a 
General  Council  of  the  Church,  instead  of,  as  here- 
tofore, being  confined  to  the  authority  of  indi- 
vidualG,  such  as  the  Archbishop  of  Prague  and  the 
pope.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  see  how  he  could 
hope  for  any  favorable  decision  from  such  a  Coun- 
cil ;  but  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  he  desired  to  sub- 
mit his  case  to  it. 

The  need  of  a  General  Council  had  been  felt 
90 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance.  91 

already  for  many  years  on  other  accounts.  The 
discussion  of  Huss's  doctrines  had  only  lately  be- 
come prominent,  and  it  was  more  of  an  incidental 
than  fundamental  motive  for  calling  such  a  Coun- 
cil. There  were  several  other  matters  which  im- 
peratively demanded  a  settlement,  chief  among 
them  being  the  healing  of  the  great  schism,  which 
had  now  become  an  intolerable  scandal. 

Of  almost  equal  importance  was  the  question 
of  reforming  the  corruptions  which  existed  in  the 
Church.  Morality  among  the  clergy  had  reached 
its  lowest  ebb.  The  pictures  drawn  by  Huss  in  his 
eloquent  denunciations  of  their  avarice,  pride,  and 
licentiousness  were  not  a  whit  stronger  than  those 
painted  by  some  of  those  who  were  later  to  become 
the  chief  instruments  of  his  death.  This  was  espe- 
cially true  of  the  great  Gerson  of  the  University 
of  Paris  and  the  French  Cardinal  D'Ailly.  One 
of  the  avowed  motives  for  calling  the  Council  of 
Pisa  in  1409  had  been  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning 
the  Augean  stables  of  Church  morality ;  but  immedi- 
ately after  the  election  of  Alexander  V  he  had  dis- 
solved the  Council  without  carrying  out  the  prom- 
ises he  had  made  before  his  election.  And  so  this 
deplorable  state  of  immorality  and  greed  went  on 
until  the  Council  of  Constance  was  decided  upon. 

All  these  things  and  others  of  minor  interest 
were  of  long  standing;  the  heresy  of  Bohemia, 
however,  was  only  taken  into  consideration  a  short 
time  before  the  convening  of  the  Council.     Up  to 


92  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

141 2  It  had  been  largely  a  matter  of  local  Interest ; 
after  that  It  became  almost  equal  in  Importance 
with  the  healing  of  the  schism  and  the  corruption 
of  the  Church. 

The  one  man  who  was  largely  responsible  for 
the  calling  of  the  Council  was  the  brother  of 
King  Wenzel,  SIglsmund,  who  was  titular  king 
of  Rome  and  emperor-elect  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire.  It  was  he  who,  now  fired  with  ambition  to 
become  emperor  In  the  real  sense  of  the  word,  de- 
sired to  restore  order  and  tranquillity  throughout 
Europe.  Religious  questions  were  Intimately  con- 
nected with  political  ones,  and  he  believed  that 
the  prestige  and  Influence  accruing  to  him  for 
having  rendered  possible  the  healing  of  the  deep 
disorders  in  the  Church  by  means  of  a  successful 
Council  would  be  of  inestimable  value. 

Pope  John  XXIII  was  then  In  Bologna,  sur- 
rounded by  many  bitter  enemies,  threatened  by 
Ladlslaus,  and  rendered  an  object  of  contempt  and 
disgust  by  reason  of  a  life  full  of  infamous  vice. 
He  had  no  liking  or  desire  for  a  Council,  which  he 
foresaw  only  too  well  must  end  In  disaster  to  him- 
self. But  he  was  forced  to  consent  to  it  by  SIgls- 
mund; and  although,  since  It  must  take  place,  he 
preferred  to  have  It  In  some  place  under  his  own 
jurisdiction,  he  was  likewise  forced  to  yield  on  this 
point,  and  to  call  the  Council  for  Constance  within 
the  territory  of  the  Empire. 

The  Council  opened  in  November,   1414,  and 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance.  93 

was  one  of  the  most  numerously  attended  the  world 
had  ever  seen.  The  beautiful  city  of  Constance 
is  situated  on  the  lake  of  the  same  name,  and 
formed  a  fair  background  to  the  brilliant  picture 
presented  by  the  magnificently  dressed  princes  of 
the  Church  and  State,  who  crowded  its  narrow 
streets.  It  is  said  that  as  many  as  fifty  thousand 
visitors  were  constantly  in  attendance,  and  that 
the  .numbers  arose  at  times  to  one  hundred  thou- 
sand. There  were  forty-five  public  and  general 
sessions  in  all,  from  November  16,  1414,  to  April 
2.2,  1418.  Among  its  results,  beside  the  condemna- 
tion and  death  of  Huss  and  Jerome,  was  the  depo- 
sition of  John  XXIII,  the  preparation  for  a  real 
reformation  of  corruption  by  the  revelation  of  the 
true  condition  of  the  clergy,  and  last  and  most  im- 
portant of  all,  perhaps,  the  establishment  of  the 
doctrine  that  the  authority  of  the  Council  is  above 
that  of  the  pope.  In  this  brief  biography  all  these 
things  must  be  passed  over  with  mere  mention. 
As  we  have  already  said,  Huss  himself  had  ap- 
pealed to  a  General  Council.  He  was  now  invited 
by  Sigismund  to  attend,  under  promise  of  a  letter 
of  safe-conduct.  His  friends,  who  knew  the  im- 
placability of  his  enemies  and  the  unreliability  of 
the  emperor,  warned  him  of  his  danger.  Although 
he  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  dissuaded  from  his 
intention,  yet  the  fears  of  his  friends  induced  him 
to  take  certain  precautfons  before  starting.  He 
returned  to   Prague  in  order  to  state  his  beliefs 


94  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

before  the  Provincial  Council  which  had  been 
called  by  the  archbishop,  and  on  the  day  before 
it  opened  he  nailed  to  the  church  doors  notices  in 
Latin,  German,  and  Bohemian,  stating  that  he  was 
ready  to  appear  before  the  assembly  and  give  an 
account  of  his  faith,  and  inviting  all  those  who  had 
any  accusation  to  make  against  him  to  appear  and 
bring  forward  their  proofs. 

He  was  not  permitted  to  appear  before  the 
Provincial  Council,  however;  but  he  did  receive 
an  important  document  from  the  papal  inquisitor 
in  Bohemia,  Nicholas  of  Nazareth,  in  which  the 
latter  declares  that  he  had  conversed  with  Huss 
a  number  of  times,  had  often  heard  him  preach, 
discussed  several  points  of  Holy  Writ  with  him, 
but  never  had  he  found  an  error  or  heresy  in  him, 
but  rather  had  found  him  in  all  his  words  and 
works  to  be  a  true  and  orthodox  Christian.  Huss 
likewise  received  the  testimony  of  Archbishop  Con- 
rad, publicly  given  to  certain  noblemen,  who  sent 
it  to  the  emperor  in  a  letter,  to  the  effect  that  he 
knew  of  no  error  or  heresy  in  Huss. 

Strong  in  his  own  conscience  and  fortified  by 
the  above-mentioned  testimonies  as  to  his  ortho- 
doxy, Huss  now  was  eager  to  go  to  Constance.  On 
September  i,  1414,  he  wrote  to  Sigismund,  declar- 
ing his  willingness  to  appear  before  the  Council, 
and  requested  a  safe-conduct  from  the  king,  in 
order  that  he  might  proclaim  his  faith  in  public, 
adding  the  prophetic  words:  "Nee  spero  verebar 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance.  95 

confiteri    Christum    dominum,    et    pro    ejus    lege 
verissima,  si  oportuerit,  mortem  pati."* 

He  had  already  before  this  declared  his  willing- 
ness to  die  for  his  faith  in  a  letter  to  the  rector 
of  the  University  of  Prague.  It  is  worth  while 
to  quote  somewhat  at  length  from  this  letter,  as 
it  shows  us  the  attitude  of  mind  with  which  Huss 
looked  forward  to  the  contest  between  himself  and 
his  adversaries  at  Constance.  ''Venerable  Rector, 
I  have  received  a  great  consolation  from  your  let- 
ter, in  which  you  write  among  other  things,  'The 
just  shall  not  be  cast  down,  whatever  may  happen 
to  him.'  I  receive  with  gratitude  this  consolation. 
I  cling  to  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  and  say  to  my- 
self, that  if  I  am  just  no  evil  whatsoever  can  so 
trouble  me  as  to  turn  me  away  from  the  path  of 
truth.  If  I  live  devoutly  in  Christ,  I  must  suffer 
persecution  in  the  name  of  Christ,  for  if  it  was 
necessary  for  Him  to  suffer  in  order  to  enter  into 
glory,  we  too  must  bear  our  cross  and  imitate  Him 
in  His  passion.  I  declare  then,  venerable  Rector, 
that  I  have  never  been  crushed  by  persecution, 
that  I  am  cast  down  only  by  my  own  sins  and  the 
errors  of  the  Christian  people.  What  are  for  me 
the  riches  of  the  world?  What  affliction  can  the 
loss  of  them  cause  to  me?  What  care  I  for  the 
loss  of  the  favor  of  man?  What  is  infamy  to 
me,  which  when  suffered  in  a  humble  spirit  tries. 


*  Nor   I  hope,  shall  I  be  afraid  to  confess  the  Lord  Christ,  and,  if 
necessary,  to  die  for  his  most  indubitable  law. 


96  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

purifies,  and  glorifies  the  children  of  God,  so  that 
they  shine  and  radiate  like  the  sun  in  the  king- 
dom of  their  Father?  What  care  I  for  death? 
If  they  tear  me  away  from  this  wretched  life, 
I  know  that  he  who  loses  life  here  will  triumph 
over  death  and  find  true  life  hereafter.  But 
some  men  blinded  by  luxury,  vainglory,  ambition, 
do  not  understand  these  things;  others  are  turned 
away  from  the  truth  by  fear,  and  linger  on 
without  patience  or  charity  or  virtue,  in  a  strange 
perplexity.  On  one  side  they  are  urged  by  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth;  on  the  other  by  the  fear 
of  exposing- their  miserable  body  to  death.  As  for 
me,  I  will  expose  my  body  to  death  (I  hope  with 
the  aid  of  the  Lord  Jesus),  if  His  mercy  come  to 
my  aid.  For  I  do  not  desire  to  live  in  this  cor- 
rupt world,  unless  I  can  lead  to  repentance  both 
myself  and  others  according  to  the  will  of  God." 
In  the  meantime  his  enemies  were  busy  making 
preparation  for  their  campaign  of  persecution. 
They  had  gathered  together  all  the  accusations 
already  made  against  him,  and  had  formulated 
them,  together  with  new  material.  All  those  who 
had  ever  heard  Huss  preach,  or  had  any  cause  to 
bear  witness  against  him,  were  invited  to  make 
deposition  under  oath.  To  pay  the  necessary  ex- 
penses a  collection  was  taken  up  among  the  clergy 
of  Bohemia  hostile  to  Huss.  The  amount  thus 
gathered  was  forwarded  to  the  Bishop  of  Leitomisl, 
John  the  Iron  as  he  was  called,  who  himself  was 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance:.  97 

about  to  start  for  Constance,  accompanied,  among 
others,  by  Stephen  Paletz,  Huss's  former  friend, 
and  now  his  most  bitter  enemy  and  unrelenting 
persecutor. 

The  accusations  which  had  been  drawn  up 
against  Huss  were  of  two  kinds :  those  extracted 
from  his  own  writings,  and  those  taken  down  by 
notaries  from  witnesses  who  declared  they  had 
heard  him  make  certain  heretical  statements  from 
the  pulpit.  Through  a  friend,  Huss,  while  still 
at  Castle  Krakowec,  received  an  abstract  of  the 
documents  containing  these  accusations  on  the  part 
of  witnesses,  and  spent  the  remaining  time  before 
his  departure  in  going  over  and  answering  them. 

Most  of  these  statements  he  declared  to  be 
false,  such  as  that  he  had  declared  from  the  pulpit 
that  after  the  Eucharist  bread  only  remained  (/.  e., 
that  he  denied  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation)  ; 
that  he  had  declared  the  efficacy  of  the  sacrament 
to  be  neutralized  when  administered  by  a  corrupt 
or  wicked  priest.  He  acknowledged,  however,  the 
truth  of  the  statements  made  by  certain  witnesses, 
to  the  effect  that-  he  had  declared  that  "no  one 
could  be  excommunicated,  especially  for  money,  ex- 
cept those  whom  God  Himself  had  excommuni- 
cated." Nor  did  he  deny  having  said  that  the  Church 
could  get  along  without  a  pope,  and  that  he  wished 
his  soul  might  be  where  Wyclif  was.  To  Protyna's 
declaration  that  he  had  denied  the  existence  of  the 
Church,   Huss  said  No!   but  that  he  understood, 


98  John  Huss:  Thi^  Witness. 

as  Augustine,  Jerome,  and  others  had  done,  the 
Church  to  be  composed  of  all  those  who  maintained 
that  faith  in  Christ  which  had  been  taught  by 
Peter  and  Paul  at  Rome.  To  Michael  de  Causis, 
who  declared  that  Huss  had  held  all  papal  and 
episcopal  indulgences  to  be  worthless,  and  had  de- 
clared that  the  pope  was  Antichrist  and  the  Roman 
Church  was  a  synonym  for  Satan,  Huss  answered 
that  all  these  things  thus  stated  were  false.  What 
he  had  said  was  that  indulgences  sold  for  money 
are  not  founded  on  the  Scriptures ;  that  the  pope 
was  Antichrist  only  when  he  sold  the  offices  of  the 
Church  for  money  (i.  e.,  was  guilty  of  simony), 
was  proud,  avaricious,  and  lived  a  life  unworthy 
of  a  follower  of  Christ.  A  good  pope  was  not 
Antichrist. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  Huss  to  leave  for 
Constance.  On  the  day  before  his  departure,  Oc- 
tober 9,  1414,  he  wrote  a  noble  letter  of  farewell 
to  his  Bohemian  friends,  which  deserves  to  be 
quoted  here  in  its  entirety: 

''I,  John  Huss,  a  priest  and  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  all  our  beloved  and  faithful  brothers  and 
sisters,  who  have  heard  from  my  mouth  the  divine 
word  and  have  received  the  mercy  and  peace  of 
God  and  the  Holy  Spirit:  May  they  continue  to 
walk  without  spot  or  blemish  in  the  way  of  truth, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord!  You  know,  dear 
brethren,  that  for  a  long  time  I  have  instructed 
you  in  the  faith,  teaching  you  the  Word  of  God, 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance.  99 

and  not  things  foreign  to  the  truth.  For  I  have 
always  sought,  seek  still,  and  shall  seek  even 
unto  the  end,  only  your  salvation.  I  had  resolved 
before  departing  for  Constance  to  refute  all  false 
accusations  and  to  confound  those  lying  witnesses 
who  wish  to  lead  me  to  destruction;  but  time  has 
not  allowed  this,  and  I  shall  do  it  later.  You,  then, 
who  know  these  things,  do  not  think,  do  not  sup- 
pose that  I  shall  meet  unworthy  treatment  for  any 
false  doctrine.  Abide  in  the  truth,  trusting  in 
the  mercy  of  God,  who  has  given  you  to  know 
and  defend  the  truth  through  me,  his  faithful 
preacher;  and  beware  of  false  teachers. 

*'As  for  me,  armed  with  a  safe-conduct  from 
the  emperor,  I  am  about  to  go  forth  to  meet  my 
numerous  and  mortal  enemies.  These  my  enemies 
in  the  Council,  more  numerous  than  were  those  of 
Christ,  are  among  the  bishops  and  doctors,  and 
also  among  the  princes  of  this  world  and  the  Phari- 
sees. But  I  trust  in  Almighty  God  and  in  my 
Savior ;  and  I  hope  He  will  hear  my  ardent  prayers, 
that  He  will  place  prudence  and  wisdom  in  my 
mouth,  to  the  end  that  I  may  resist  them;  and 
that  He  will  grant  me  His  Holy  Spirit  to  fortify 
me  in  His  truth;  so  that  the  gates  of  hell  may 
not  turn  me  from  it,  and  that  I  may  confront  with  an 
intrepid  heart  temptation,  prison,  and  the  sufferings 
of  a  cruel  death.  Christ  suffered  for  His  beloved; 
should  we  wonder  then  that  He  has  left  us  His 
example,  in  order  that  we  endure  patiently  ourselves 


loo  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

all  things  for  our  own  salvation.  He  is  God  and 
we  are  His  creatures ;  He  is  the  Lord  and  we  are 
His  servants;  He  is  the  master  of  the  world  and 
we  are  insignificant  mortals ;  He  has  need  of  noth- 
ing, we  are  destitute  of  all ;  He  has  suffered,  why 
should  we  not  suffer  likewise,  especially  when  suf- 
fering is  for  us  a  purification?  Verily  he  can  not 
perish  who  has  confidence  in  Christ  and  who 
abides  in  His  truth.  Therefore,  my  beloved,  pray 
to  Him  earnestly  to  grant  me  His  Spirit,  that  I 
may  abide  in  His  truth,  and  that  He  may  deliver 
me  from  all  evil ;  and  if  my  death  is  to  contribute 
to  His  glory,  pray  that  it  may  come  quickly,  and 
that  He  may  grant  unto  me  to  bear  all  my  ills 
with  constancy.  But  if  it  is  better,  in  the  interest 
of  my  salvation,  that  I  return  among  you,  we  will 
ask  of  God  that  I  may  return  from  this  Council 
without  blemish ;  that  is,  that  I  may  take  away 
naught  from  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
in  order  that  we  may  recognize  more  purely  His 
light  and  leave  unto  our  brethren  a  fair  example 
to  follow.  It  may  be  you  will  never  see  my  face 
again  in  Prague ;  but  if  the  will  of  Almighty  God 
should  restore  me  to  you,  let  us  then  move 
forward  with  a  better  heart  in  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  His  law.  The  Lord  is  just  and  merciful, 
and  He  giveth  peace  to  His  own  in  this  world  and 
after  death.  May  He  watch  over  you,  He  who 
has  purified  us.  His  sheep,  by  the  shedding  of  His 
own  precious  blood,  which  is  the  everlasting  pledge 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance:.  ioi 

of  our  salvation!  May  He  grant  unto  you  to  ac- 
complish His  will,  and  when  you  shall  have  accom- 
plished it,  may  He  give  you  peace  and  eternal  joy 
through  Jesus  Christ,  together  with  all  those  who 
shall  have  remained  in  the  truth  !"* 

The  day  after  he  wrote  this  letter  he  started 
on  his  journey  to  Constance,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  promised  safe-conduct  from  the  emperor 
had  not  come.  This  he  did  because  he  was  anxious 
to  be  on  hand  when  the  Council  should  open.  His 
state  of  mind  was  a  mixed  one.  On  the  one  hand 
trusting  in  the  protection  of  the  emperor  and  his 
own  good  cause  he  hoped  to  return  in  safety.  On 
the  other  hand  that  he  felt  the  seriousness  of  his 
situation  can  be  seen  from  the  letter  quoted  above, 
as  well  as  from  another  letter  which  he  wrote  be- 
fore leaving  Bohemia  to  a  certain  Master  Martin, 
requesting  him,  however,  not  to  open  it  until  he 
was  assured  of  his  death.  The  letter  ends  with 
these  words:  '^Invoke  the  mercy  of  God  for  me, 
in  order  that  He  may  deign  to  direct  my  life,  and 
after  the  victory  over  the  perverse  powers  of  this 
world,  over  the  flesh,  the  world  and  the  devil.  He 
may  open  unto  me  the  celestial  country  in  the  last 
day.  Farewell,  then,  in  Jesus  Christ,  together  with 
all  those  who  obey  His  law.  If  you  wish,  you 
may  keep  my  gray  robe  as  a  souvenir;  yet  if  you 

*This  letter  was  written  in  Bohemian,  and  a  number  of  Latin  versions 
have  been  made.  That  given  by  Palacky  in  his  Documenta  differs  consid- 
erably from  Bonnechose's  French  version,  from  which  the  above  transla- 
tion has  been  made. 


I02  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

do  not  like  the  gray  color,  dispose  of  it  as  seems 
best  to  you.  Give  also  to  my  pupil,  George,  sixty 
pieces  of  silver  or  my  gray  robe,  because  he  has 
served  me  well." 

The  parting  from  his  friends  was  very  pain- 
ful. All  were  oppressed  by  a  feeling  that  they 
should  never  see  their  beloved  pastor  again.  In 
a  letter  written  in  his  prison  at  Constance  he  tells 
how  on  this  occasion  a  certain  shoemaker,  named 
Andrew  Polonus,  said  to  him:  "May  God  be  with 
you !  I  can  hardly  hope  that  you  will  return  safe 
and  sound,  my  dear  Master  John,  you  who  cling 
so  strongly  to  the  truth.  May  the  King,  not  of 
Hungary,  but  of  Heaven,  cover  you  with  all  His 
blessings,  because  of  the  true  and  excellent  doc- 
trines I  have  learned  of  you !" 

He  did  not  have  to  travel  alone,  however,  for 
the  two  kings,  Wenzel  and  Sigismund,  gave  him 
an  escort  consisting  of  three  noblemen,  who  were 
to  watch  over  his  personal  safety,  both  on  his 
journey  and  during  his  sojourn  in  Constance.  The 
most  distinguished  among  them  was  John  of  Chlum, 
and  with  him  were  Wenzel  of  Duba  and  Heinrich 
of  Chlum,  surnamed  Latzenbock.  The  two  former 
proved  themselves  to  be  men  of  courage  and  honor 
during  the  painful  scenes  that  were  soon  to  occur 
at  Constance.  Latzenbock,  however,  publicly  re- 
pudiated Huss's  doctrines  and  approved  his  con- 
demnation. On  October  ii,  then,  Huss  set  out  in 
company  with  Wenzel  of  Duba,  John  of  Chlum, 


Huss  Goes  to  Constance.  103 

and  certain  other  Bohemians,  among  them  Peter 
of  Mladenowic,  to  whom  we  owe  the  detailed 
story  of  Huss's  Hfe  while  in  Constance.  Latzen- 
bock  met  them  later. 

Huss  was  greatly  pleased  with  his  reception  in 
the  various  towns  and  cities  through  which  he 
passed.  Everywhere  he  nailed  up  to  the  doors  of 
the  churches  proclamations  in  Latin  and  German, 
stating  that  "Master  John  Huss  is  now  on  his 
way  to  Constance,  in  order  there  to  bear  witness 
to  the  faith  which  he  has  hitherto  confessed,  con- 
fesses now,  and  ever  shall  confess,  so  God  will, 
until  his  death.  If  any  man  has  any  error  or 
heresy  to  accuse  him  of,  let  him  go  to  the  Coun- 
cil, for  there  is  blaster  John  Huss  ready  to  give 
satisfaction  to  every  adversary." 

In  a  letter  written  from  Nuremberg  we  have 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  scenes  through  which  he 
passed  on  his  journey.  On  approaching  Pernau 
he  says:  "The  priest  was  waiting  for  me  with  his 
curates.  When  I  entered  he  drank  to  my  health  in 
a  large  cup  of  wine.  He  and  his  friends  listened 
to  my  teaching  with  a  spirit  of  charity,  and  he  said 
he  had  always  been  my  friend.  All  the  Germans 
saw  me  afterwards  with  pleasure  in  the  new  city. 
We  went  from  there  to  Weyden,  where  we  saw  a 
great  crowd,  filled  as  it  were  with  admiration,  and 
when  we  had  come  to  Saltzbach  I  said  to  the  con- 
suls and  the  elders  of  the  city:  *I  am  that  John 
Huss   of  whom  you  have   doubtless   heard   much 


I04  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

evil.  Here  I  am.  Satisfy  yourself  concerning  the 
tiuth  by  asking  me  what  questions  you  will.'  After 
many  questions  they  received  gladly  all  that  I 
said  to  them.  .  .  .  We  came  next  to  Nurem- 
berg, where  certain  merchants  who  had  preceded 
us  had  published  my  arrival.  Wherefore  the  peo- 
ple remained  in  the  public  squares,  looking  and 
asking  who  was  John  Huss.  Before  dinner  the 
priest,  John  Heluvel,  wrote  me  that  he  wished  to 
have  a  long  conversation  with  me.  I  invited  him 
to  come,  and  he  came.  Then  the  citizens  and  the 
Masters  gathered  together,  desiring  to  see  and  to 
confer  with  me.  Rising  straightway  from  the 
table  I  went  to  meet  them,  and  as  the  Masters 
wished  to  confer  with  me,  I  said  to  them:  'I  speak 
in  public,  let  those  who  wish  to  hear  me  listen;' 
and  from  this  time  until  night  we  discussed  in  pres- 
ence of  the  consuls  and  citizens.  All  the  citizens 
and  the  Masters  remained  satisfied.  'Master,'  said 
they,  'all  that  we  have  just  heard  is  Catholic.  We 
have  taught  these  things  many  years ;  we  have  held 
them  for  true,  and  shall  hold  them  so  still.  Surely 
you  will  return  from  this  Council  with  honor.'  " 

Cheered  by  all  these  evidences  of  good-will 
toward  him,  and  by  the  kind  and  noble  friendship  of 
Chlum  and  Duba,  whom  he  calls  "the  heralds  and 
advocates  of  truth,"  Huss  went  on  his  way  to 
Constance,  where  he  arrived  on  November  3,  1414, 
after  a  journey  of  twenty  days.  Pope  John  XXHI 
had  arrived  six  days  before.  The  emperor  was  not 
to  arrive  before  December  25th. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IMPRISONMENT,  TRIAL  AND  DEATH 
OF  HUSS. 

With  the  arrival  of  Huss  at  Constance  the  last 
act  of  the  drama  of  his  life  began.  He  took  lodg- 
ings in  the  house  of  a  poor  widow,  situated  on  the 
public  square  near  the  palace  of  the  pope.  His 
arrival  was  the  signal  of  renewed  activity  on  the 
part  of  both  friends  and  enemies.  John  of  Chlum 
and  Henry  of  Latzenbock  went  the  next  day  to  the 
pope  to  announce  the  arrival  of  their  protege,  declar- 
ing that  he  was  furnished  with  a  safe-conduct  from 
the  emperor,  and  requesting  the  pope  to  see  that  this 
safe-conduct  should  not  be  violated.  In  the  words 
of  Von  der  Hardt,  the  messengers  of  Huss  were 
received  courteously,  and  are  said  to  have  brought 
back  the  answer  from  the  pope:  "Even  if  John 
Huss  had  slain  his  own  brother,  he  would  not 
allow  him  to  be  injured  in  any  way,  as  far  as  he 
was  able  to  prevent  it,  as  long  as  he  remained  in 
Constance." 

Thus  matters  seemed  to  begin  auspiciously  for 
the  Bohemian  reformer.  This  assurance  of  friend- 
liness on  the  part  of  the  pope  was  supplemented 
the    next    day    by    the    arrival    of    Wenzel    of 

105 


io6  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witness. 

Diiba,  who  brought  back  the  famous  safe-conduct 
promised  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund  to  Huss ;  the 
latter,  however,  having  come,  as  we  have  seen,  to 
Constance  before  having  received  it.  A  bitter  con- 
troversy has  arisen  over  the  whole  subject  of  this 
safe-conduct,  which,  as  we  shall  see  later,  did  not 
save  its  holder.  On  the  one  hand,  the  friends  of 
Huss  have  looked  on  Sigismund's  betrayal  of  his 
own  written  word  as  a  contemptible  act  of  weak- 
ness and  treachery.  On  the  other  hand,  the  de- 
fenders of  the  Church  declare  that  the  emperor 
could  not  do  otherwise.  Gebhard  Dacher,  an  eye- 
witness of  the  Council,  sums  up  this  side  of  the 
argument  in  these  words:  "Sigismund  was  per- 
suaded," said  he,  "after  a  great  many  words,  that 
by  virtue  of  the  decretals,  he  was  disp-ensed  from 
keeping  his  faith  with  a  man  accused  of  heresy." 
It  was  further  said  that  the  emperor  had  no  au- 
thority to  grant  the  safe-conduct  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Council,  especially  in  matters  of  faith, 
and  that  the  emperor  acquiesced  in  this  decision, 
like  a  good  son  of  the  Church. 

The  Council  itself  later  passed  two  decrees,  in 
order  to  justify  the  action  of  the  emperor  before 
the  world.  How  successful  they  were  in  this  may 
be  gathered  from  an  anecdote  told  of  Charles  V, 
who,  when  urged  to  violate  his  safe-conduct  to 
Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  replied:  "I  do  not 
wish  to  blush  as  Sigismund  did,"  alluding  to  the 
tradition  that  in  Huss's  last  appearance  before  the 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Dkath.        107 

Council  he  declared  that  he  had  come  of  his  own 
accord  to  the  Council,  under  the  public  faith  of 
the  emperor  here  present.  "When  he  pronounced 
these  words  he  looked  earnestly  at  Sigismund,  who 
could  not  help  blushing."  It  is  certain  that  pos- 
terity will  always  agree  with  Lenfant,  ''That  John 
Huss  was  a  victim  not  only  to  the  passion  of  his 
enemies,  but  also  to  the  weakness  and  superstition, 
not  to  say  treachery,  of  the  emperor." 

For  several  days  Huss  lived  quiet  and  unmo- 
lested in  his  lodgings,  free  enough  in  many  respects, 
but  forbidden  to  attend  the  public  mass,  because  of 
his  ecclesiastical  status.  In  the  meantime  his  ene- 
mies were  actively  at  work  poisoning  the  minds 
of  all  against  him.  De  Causis  and  Paletz  were 
especially  active,  causing  placards  to  be  posted 
everywhere  denouncing  Huss  as  an  excommuni- 
cated heretic,  and  distributing  garbled  extracts 
from  his  books  to  the  pope  and  the  cardinals. 
When  Huss  complained  of  this  to  the  pope,  the 
latter  said :  "What  can  I  do  ?  They  who  have  done 
it  are  your  own  countrymen." 

The  machinations  of  his  enemies  soon  bore  fruit. 
Huss,  although  he  abstained  from  being  present 
at  public  mass,  performed  the  sacrament  privately 
in  his  own  lodgings,  to  which  a  large  number  of 
people  came.  When  ordered  by  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
stance to  desist,  he  is  said  to  have  refused  in  no 
gentle  terms.  Whether  this  is  true  or  not,  De  Cau- 
sis and  Paletz  finally  prevailed  upon  the  cardinals 


io8  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

to  arrest  him.  This  was  not  done  openly,  but  in 
an  underhahded  way.  A  deputation  was  sent  to 
him  to  summon  him  to  appear  before  the  cardinals, 
there  to  give  an  account  of  his  doctrines.  They 
had  taken  the  precaution  to  station  a  number  of 
armed  soldiers  in  the  neighborhood  to  prevent  any 
disturbance.  Huss  replied  to  this  summons  that 
he  had  not  come  to  Constance  to  speak  to  the 
cardinals,  but  to  appear  before  the  entire  Council, 
and  to  answer  all  questions  that  might  be  asked. 
Yet  nevertheless  he  declared  himself  ready  to  go  to 
the  cardinals,  and  if  he  were  there  questioned  con- 
cerning his  faith,  he  would  rather  prefer  to  die  than 
to  deny  the  truth  he  had  learned  from  the  gospel. 

Accompanied  then  by  John  of  Chlum,  he  left 
his  lodgings.  When  he  was  introduced  into  the 
presence  of  the  cardinals,  they  said  to  him :  "Master 
John,  it  is  said  that  you  have  taught  and  dissemi- 
nated many  errors  in  Bohemia,  and  therefore  we 
have  sent  for  you,  wishing  to  inquire  of  you  if 
this  is  true."  Whereupon  he  answered:  "Most 
reverend  fathers,  be  it  known  unto  you  that  rather 
than  to  hold  error,  I  should  prefer  to  die.  Behold, 
I  have  freely  come  to  the  sacred  Council,  ready,  if 
I  have  erred,  to  be  corrected."  Whereupon  the 
cardinals  said,  "Verily  these  are  good  words;" 
and  they  went  away  each  one  to  his  own  affairs, 
leaving  Huss  under  the  guard  of  the  armed  men. 

A  short  time  afterward  a  monk  was  sent  to 
him  as  a  spy,  under  the  pretense  of  a  friendly  con- 


Imprisonment,  Triai.  and  Death.        109 

versation;  he  pretended  to  be  a  simple  unlearned 
man,  desirous  of  being  instructed  in  certain  ques- 
tions, especially  that  of  transubstantiation.  His 
object  was  evidently  to  get  Huss  to  confess  his 
belief  that  after  the  sacrament  only  bread  remained 
on  the  altar.  As  we  have  already  seen,  this  was  not 
Huss's  belief;  he  bluntly  declared  so  to  the  priest, 
whom  he  began  to  suspect  of  not  being  so  ignorant 
as  he  pretended  to  be.  When  this  false  monk 
asked  him  his  opinion  as  to  the  human  and  divine 
nature  of  Christ,  Huss  turned  to  Chlum  and  said 
in  Bohemian :  "Verily  this  monk  says  he  is  a  simple 
and  ignorant  man,  yet  he  is  not  so  simple,  since 
he  asks  questions  concerning  the  deepest  subjects," 
and  turning  to  the  monk  he  said:  "Brother,  you 
say  you  are  simple,  but  I  think  you  are  double." 
It  was  afterwards  found  out  that  the  monk  was 
one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  of  Italy. 

In  the  meantime  Palctz  and  Michael  de  Causis 
and  others  had,  by  continual  urging,  persuaded  the 
cardinals  that  they  ought  not  to  let  Huss  go  free 
again ;  and  so  when  evening  had  come  they  had 
sent  word  to  John  of  Chlum  that  he  could  leave 
when  he  pleased;  but  as  for  Huss,  he  should  re- 
main in  the  pope's  palace.  Filled  with  indigna- 
tion, Chlum  went  to  the  pope  and  complained  bit- 
terly of  this  action,  which  not  only  violated  the 
safe-conduct  that  Huss  had  received  from  the  em- 
peror, but  likewise  was  contrary  to  the  oral  prom- 
ise of  the  pope  himself,  made  a  short  time  before, 


no  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witness. 

that  he  would  protect  him.  All  of  no  avail,  how- 
ever, for  the  pope  weakly  and  hypocritically  laid 
the  blame  on  the  cardinals  and  the  bishops. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  night  Huss  was  removed 
from  the  papal  palace  to  the  house  of  the  cantor 
of  the  cathedral  of  Constance,  where  he  was  kept 
under  guard  for  eight  days.  Then  he  was  taken 
to  the  Dominican  monastery  situated  on  an  island 
in  the  Rhine.  Here  he  was  thrown  into  a  dark 
dungeon,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  a 
sewer,  where  he  remained  until  March  24,  141 5. 
As  may  be  easily  understood,  his  health  suffered 
in  this  wretched  hole,  a  serious  case  of  fever  de- 
veloped so  that  his  life  was  despaired  of,  and  Pope 
John  XXHI  sent  his  own  physician  to  attend  him. 

While  all  this  was  going  on  Huss's  enemies 
went  about  their  nefarious  schemes.  Michael 
de  Causis  prepared  a  document  containing  eight 
articles,  which  he  presented  to  the  pope.  These 
articles  contain  the  gist  of  the  accusations  against 
Huss,  and  are  here  given  in  outline : 

It  is  declared  that  Huss  had  publicly  taught 
that  the  sacrament  ought  to  be  administered  in  two 
kinds,  and  that  he  had  taught  publicly  both  in  the 
University  and  in  church,  or  that  at  least  he 
holds  the  opinion,  that  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar 
the   bread    remains   bread    after   the   consecration. 

He  is  accused  of  saying  that  ministers  in 
a  state  of  mortal  sin  can  not  administer  the  sacra- 
ment, and  that  on  the  contrary  any  person  may 
do  it,  provided  he  is  in  a  state  of  grace. 


Imprisonment^  Triai,  and  Death.        hi 

He  has  taught  that  by  the  Church  ought  not 
to  be  understood  the  pope,  cardinals,  archbishops, 
and  clergy,  and  that  this  is  a  wicked  definition 
invented  by  the  Schoolmen;  further,  that  the 
Church  ought  not  to  possess  temporalities,  and 
that  the  secular  lords  may  take  them  away  from 
the  Churches  and  ecclesiastics  with  impunity;  that 
Constantine  and  the  other  princes  were  guilty  of 
an  error  in  endowing  the  Church;  that  all  priests 
are  of  equal  authority,  and  that  consequently  the 
ordinations  reserved  to  the  pope  and  bishops  are 
the  mere  effect  of  their  ambition;  that  the  Church 
has  no  longer  the  power  of  the  keys  when  the  pope, 
cardinals,  bishops,  and  all  the  clergy  are  in  a  state 
of  mortal  sin,  which  may  be  the  case ;  finally  he, 
Huss,  contemns  excommunication,  having  all 
along  celebrated  the  divine  office  during  his 
journey. 

After  two  more  articles,  along  the  same  line 
as  the  preceding,  De  Causis  discusses  the  conduct 
of  Huss,  accusing  him  among  other  things  of 
having  been  the  first  cause  of  the  secession  of  the 
German  students  and  professors  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Prague  in  1409;  of  having  defended  the 
doctrines  of  Wyclif  against  the  will  of  the  Univer- 
sity, which  had  condemned  them,  and  of  gather- 
ing around  him  heretics  and  enemies  of  the  Church. 
''From  hence,  he  inferred  that  if  John  Huss  be 
not  severely  treated  by  the  Council,  he  will  do 
the  Church  more  harm  than  ever  any  heretic  did 


112  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

since  the  reign  of  Constantine,  and  prays  that  the 
pope  immediately  appoint  commissioners  to  ex- 
amine him,  and  doctors  to  read  carefully  his 
works." 

In  the  meantime  Chlum  left  nothing  undone  to 
secure  the  release  of  Huss.  He  wrote  to  the  em- 
peror, who  had  not  yet  come  to  Constance,  com- 
plaining of  the  way  in  which  his  safe-conduct  had 
been  treated,  and  the  emperor,  who  had  not  as  yet 
been  persuaded  by  casuistical  remarks  to  break  his 
word,  fell  into  a  rage  and  ordered  that  Huss  be 
released.  This  order  was  not  obeyed,  and  Chlum 
in  his  indignation  nailed  up  to  the  doors  of  the 
churches  throughout  the  city  the  following  mani- 
festo: "I,  John  of  Chlum,  make  known  to  all  who 
shall  see  or  hear  these  presents,  that  Master  John 
Huss,  Bachelor  of  Divinity,  having  come  to  Con- 
stance there  to  give  an  account  of  his  faith  in  a 
public  hearing,  under  the  safe-conduct  and  pro- 
tection of  the  most  serene  prince,  Lord  Sigismund, 
king  of  the  Romans  and  of  Hungary,  for  which 
he  has  the  king's  letters  patent,  yet  notwithstand- 
ing this  safe-conduct,  Master  John  Huss  has  been 
apprehended  and  is  actually  detained  in  a  prison 
of  this  city.  And  though  the  pope  and  cardinals 
have  been  very  seriously  required  by  solemn  am- 
bassadors from  the  king  to  recommit  him  to  my 
care,  they  have  hitherto  refused  and  still  do  refuse 
to  do  it,  to  the  great  contempt  of  the  safe-conduct 
of  the  king.    Therefore  I,  John  of  Chlum,  do  de- 


Imprisonment,  Triai,  and  Death.        113 

clare  in  the  king's  name  that  the  imprisonment 
and  detaining  of  Master  John  Huss  is  not  at  all 
pleasing  to  the  king  of  the  Romans,  and  that  they 
have  taken  advantage  of  his  absence  to  commit 
an  act,  which  they  never  would  have  dared  to  do 
if  he  had  been  present.  When  he  arrives,  every 
one  shall  know  how  he  resents  this  contemptuous 
treatment  of  his  safe-conduct.  Dated  at  Constance 
on  Christmas  eve,  1414." 

With  the  arrival  of  Sigismund  the  next  morn- 
ing, however,  all  these  hopes  gradually  began  to 
die  out.  Endowed  with  many  and  brilliant  quali- 
ties, filled  with  ambition  to  restore  once  more  the 
glory  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Sigismund  had 
brought  about  the  calling  of  the  Council,  not  so 
much  for  the  good  of  the  Church  as  for  his  own 
ambitions,  well  knowing  that  if  he  succeeded  in 
reforming  the  corruption  of  the  Church  and  in 
putting  an  end  to  the  schism,  his  own  glory  and 
prestige  would  be  prodigiously  enhanced.  When 
he  saw  that  by  persisting  in  protecting  Huss  he 
was  in  danger  of  dissolving  the  Council,  he  basely 
deserted  him  and  left  him  in  prison. 

In  Bohemia  the  news  of  Huss's  imprisonment 
filled  the  nobles  with  rage;  but  the  indignant  let- 
ters they  wrote  to  the  emperor  only  resulted  in 
having   their    countryman    more    closely    confined. 

The  story  of  the  next  few  months  in  Huss's 
life  is  a  monotonous  one.  To  repeat  the  details 
given  by  Von  der  Hardt,  Lenfant,  and  Peter  of 
8 


114  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

Mladenowic  would  be  out  of  place  in  this  brief 
sketch.  We  can  only  cast  a  glance  at  the  epoch- 
making  events  that  occurred  outside  his  prison,  and 
then  look  for  a  moment  at  Huss  himself  and  his 
life  before  the  final  catastrophe  came.  The  Coun- 
cil met  from  time  to  time,  and  discussed  the  im- 
portant items  of  business  which  had  called  them 
together.  Sermons  were  preached  on  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  clergy  and  the  tyranny  of  the  pope, 
equaling,  if  not  surpassing,  in  freedom  of  utter- 
ance anything  ever  said  by  Wyclif  and  Huss. 

The  whole  year  of  141 5  was  full  of  stirring 
events,  and  was  not  to  close  before  the  death  of 
Huss.  Almost  as  soon  as  the  emperor  arrived,  a 
coolness  sprang  up  between  him  and  the  pope; 
the  latter,  who  saw  he  could  expect  nothing  good 
from  the  Council,  now  only  sought  a  means  of  es- 
cape, and  although  a  strict  watch  was  kept  on  the 
gates,  he  succeeded  in  accomplishing  his  plan, 
through  the  help  of  the  Archduke  Frederick  of 
Austria.  For  a  moment  it  looked  as  if  the  Coun- 
cil must  be  dissolved,  but  the  emperor  declared 
that  it  still  was  in  session.  This  did  more  than 
anything  else  to  strengthen  the  claim  of  Gerson 
and  the  University  of  Paris  that  the  authority  of  the 
Council  was  superior  to  the  pope,  a  doctrine  that 
has  distinguished  the  Galilean  Church  ever  since. 
A  few  months  after,  March  29,  141 5,  John  XXHI 
was  deposed  from  the  papacy. 

Another   important   event   was   the   arrival    in 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Death.        115 

Constance  of  Jerome  of  Prague,  the  faithful  friend 
and  disciple  of  Huss.  When  the  latter  was  about 
to  leave  for  the  Council,  Jerome  is  said  to  have 
exhorted  him  to  be  faithful  in  holding  on  to 
what  he  had  so  often  preached,  and  declared  that 
if  he  should  hear  that  Huss  were  ill-treated  at 
Constance  he  would  follow  him  thither.  Carrying 
out  his  promise  he  arrived  there  April  24th,  but 
unknown,  and  for  some  reason  or  other  left  the 
same  day,  and  went  to  Uberlingen,  whence  after 
writing  a  letter  to  the  emperor  asking  for  a  safe- 
conduct,  he  started  for  Bohemia  again.  He  was 
arrested,  however,  and  brought  back  in  chains  to 
Constance  and  cast  into  prison. 

In  the  meantime  Huss  still  remained  a  prisoner. 
From  the  Dominican  monastery  he  had  been  re- 
moved to  that  of  the  Franciscans.  At  the  time  of 
the  pope's  flight  his  friends  hoped  to  persuade 
Sigismund  to  release  him,  but  in  vain;  for  the 
emperor,  now  yielding  to  the  unremitting  de- 
mands of  Huss's  enemies,  turned  him  over  to  the 
care  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  and  ordered  that 
the  trial  against  him  be  carried  on  with  the  utmost 
severity.  He  was  treated  with  still  greater  cruelty, 
and  was  carried  in  chains  in  a  boat  to  Castle 
Gottlieben,  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  city  of 
Constance,  where  he  was  kept  in  a  high  tower, 
with  his  feet  bound  by  chains,  and  at  night  his 
hands  chained  to  the  wall.  Here,  fed  on  wretched 
food,    scarcely   able   to   move   on   account   of   his 


ii6  John  Huss:  Thi^  Witness. 

chains,  he  remained  from  March  24th  to  the  be- 
ginning of  June. 

Of  the  inner  Hfe  of  Huss  during  all  these 
weary  months  we  catch  a  glimpse  in  his  letters, 
written  while  in  prison,  to  his  friends.  We  see 
his  patience  and  his  gratitude  for  all  the  kindness 
shown  him  by  the  prison-keepers ;  we  see  how  he 
has  lost  all  bitterness  against  his  persecutors,  pray- 
ing God  to  forgive  even  his  arch-enemy,  Paletz. 
We  see  his  thoughtfulness  in  the  niidst  of  his 
own  tribulations  for  the  welfare  of  his  friends; 
his  hopes  and  fears  for  himself  and  his  confidence 
in  God  that  justice  will  prevail,  not  only  in  his 
own  case,  but  in  the  whole  reformatory  movement 
which  he  had  done  so  much  to  spread. 

In  a  letter  written  June  24th  to  his  Bohemian 
friends,  he  utters  what  some  have  looked  upon  as 
a  prophecy  of  Luther  and  his  Reformation :  ''Would 
that  I  might  manifest  the  iniquity  I  have  learned 
to  know,  in  order  that  the  faithful  servants  of  God 
may  be  on  their  guard  against  it.  But  I  hope 
that  God  will  send  after  me  champions  stronger 
than  I,  who  will  better  lay  bare  the  sin  of  Anti- 
christ, and  who  will  expose  themselves  to  death 
for  the  truth  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  will 
give  to  you  and  to  me  eternal  glory."  And  in 
another  letter,  speaking  about  a  dream  he  had, 
in  which  he  saw  the  pictures  in  Bethlehem  Chapel 
destroyed  by  his  enemies,  whereupon  many  paint- 
ers had  made  new  ones,  he  says:  ''I  hope  that  the 


Imprisonment,  Triai.  and  Death.        117 

life  of  Christ,  that  I  painted  through  His  word 
at  Bethlehem  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  that  His 
enemies  have  tried  to  destroy  by  forbidding  all 
preaching  in  the  chapel  and  wishing  to  raze  it 
to  the  ground ;  I  hope,  I  say,  that  this  same  life 
will  be  better  drawn  in  the  future  by  preachers 
more  eloquent  than  I,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people 
who  cling  with  all  their  heart  to  Christ.  I  shall 
rejoice  myself  when  I  shall  awake;  that  is,  when 
I  shall  rise  again  from  the  dead." 

We  must  now  leave  all  other  things  and  turn 
our  attention  to  the  closing  scenes  of  that  drama, 
the  details  of  which  are  so  touching,  and  which 
was  to  end  in  the  death  of  Huss.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  to  come  to  Constance  in  order 
to  defend  his  doctrine  before  the  Council,  months 
had  passed  by  without  bringing  an  opportunity 
of  appearing  before  his  accusers  publicly.  John 
XXIII  had  appointed  a  commission  to  examine  the 
charges  against  him,  and  after  the  flight  of  the 
pope  a  new  commission  had  been  appointed  by 
the  Council.  Many  visits  had  been  made  by  mem- 
bers of  this  commission  and  others  to  Huss  in 
prison ;  they  had  argued  with  him  over  and  over 
again,  and  although  he  constantly  repeated  his 
desire  to  defend  his  case  before  the  Council  in  pub- 
lic, he  did  not  now  refuse  to  discuss  the  various 
accusations  made  against  him.  All  efforts,  how- 
ever, to  make  him  confess  that  he  had  been  in 
error    were    unavailing.      He    constantly    declared 


ii8  John  Huss:  Th^  Witness. 

that  then  only  would  he  recant  if  they  would  show 
him  to  be  in  error  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. 

We  have  seen  that  the  attempt  made  to  obtain 
Huss's  liberty  at  the  time  of  the  pope's  flight  only 
resulted  in  a  closer  imprisonment.  A  final  effort 
was  made  by  his  friends  in  Constance  on  May 
13th.  A  memorial  was  written  and  read  by  Peter 
of  Mladenowic  to  the  Council,  protesting  against 
the  imprisonment  of  the  Reformer  and  the  slanders 
of  his  enemies,  and  demanding  that  he  be  set  free, 
in  order  that  he  might  regain  health  and  strength, 
so  that  he  might  be  in  condition  to  answer  his  ene- 
mies, the  lords  of  Bohemia  offering  themselves  as 
securities  that  he  should  not  run  away  before  his 
case  was  settled. 

Although  they  did  not  succeed  in  securing  his 
release  from  prison,  they  did  succeed  in  extorting 
a  promise  from  the  Council  and  emperor  to  give 
him  a  public  hearing.  The  date  was  set  for  the 
fifth  of  June.  This  in  itself  was  joyful  news  to 
Huss.  The  private  hearings,  which  had  been  many, 
had  turned  out  entirely  unsatisfactory,  and  were 
accompanied  often  by  insult  and  violence.  In  one 
of  his  letters  he  tells  how  Michael  de  Causis  was 
there  holding  a  paper  in  his  hand  and  stirring  up 
the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  to  force  him  to 
answer  his  questions.  *'God  has  permitted  Paletz 
and  him,"  he  cries  out,  "to  rise  up  against  me  for 
my   sins.      Michael    examines   all   my   letters    and 


Imprisonment,  Triai.  and  Death.        119 

writings,  and  Paletz  reports  all  the  conversations 
we  have  had  together  during  many  years." 

It  was  with  a  revival  of  courage  and  hope  that 
he  now  learned  that  he  was  to  be  heard  before  the 
Council.  He  was  in  poor  condition  to  undergo 
such  a  trial,  being  worn  out  by  long  imprisonment, 
suffering  many  painful  diseases,  toothache,  hemor- 
rhages, gravel,  and  pains  in  the  head.  He  was 
brought  to  Constance,  his  prison  in  Gottlieben  now 
being  occupied  by  John  XXIII,  who  had  been 
caught  and  brought  back  to  Constance. 

On  June  5th  a  great  crowd  gathered  together 
in  the  refectory  of  the  Franciscan  monastery, 
where  the  Council  was  to  sit.  It  seemed  at  first 
as  if  they  were  going  to  condemn  him  without 
being  heard,  but  Peter  of  Mladenowic  hastily  de- 
parted and  apprized  Chlum  and  Duba  of  his  sus- 
picions, and  they  informed  the  emperor  immedi- 
ately. The  latter  thereupon  sent  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine and  the  Burgrave  of  Nuremberg  to  the  Coun- 
cil, forbidding  them  in  his  name  to  try  Huss  with- 
out a  fair  hearing. 

The  scene  that  followed  was  a  disgraceful  one. 
It  was  at  once  evident  that  Huss  could  not  obtain 
a  fair  hearing  before  these  men,  who  were  ani- 
mated by  the  bitterest  hatred  toward  him.  ''As  soon 
as  he  came  in  they  put  his  works  into  his  hands, 
which  he  owned  and  offered  to  retract  if  any 
error  was  found  in  thern.  After  this  they  began 
with  the  reading  of  the  articles.     But  they  had 


I20  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

scarce  made  an  end  of  the  first,  with  the  evidence 
supporting  it,  when  so  terrible  a  noise  arose  that 
the  Fathers  could  not  hear  one  another,  much  less 
the  answers  of  John  Huss.  When  the  clamor  was 
a  little  over,  Huss,  offering  to  defend  himself  by 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers, 
was  interrupted  as  if  he  had  spoken  nothing  to  the 
purpose,  and  they  set  upon  him  with  reproach  and 
banter.  If  he  chose  to  hold  his  peace,  his  silence 
was  looked  upon  as  an  approbation,  though  he  de- 
clared he  was  forced  to  be  silent  because  they 
would  not  hear  him.  In  short,  everything  passed 
with  so  much  confusion,  that  for  the  Council's 
honor  the  most  judicious  of  the  members  advised 
the  putting  off  of  the  affair  to  another  day."* 

The  second  hearing  took  place  two  days  after- 
ward, on  June  7th.  A  certain  solemnity  was  added 
to  it  by  an  almost  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  that  had 
occurred  earlier  in  the  day.  That  this  meeting 
passed  over  more  quietly  was  due  largely  to  the 
fact  that  the  emperor  was  present.  Two  classes  of 
accusations  had  been  made  against  Huss — those 
based  on  the  report  of  witnesses  as  to  what  he  had 
said  and  done,  and  which  had  been  written  up  by 
De  Causis,  and  those  based  on  extracts  from  Huss's 
own  writings,  probably  drawn  up  by  Paletz.  Out 
of  these  he  was  accused  of  having  taught  thirty- 
nine  different  heretical  doctrines,  most  of  them 
being  drawn  from  his  book  on  the  Church.     The 


*  Lenfant,  History  of  the  Council  of  Constance. 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Dicath.        121 

whole  of  this  session  was  devoted  to  the  first  class 
of  accusations.  As  we  before  have  seen,  Huss  had 
denied  already  some  of  these  and  confessed  to 
others.  The  old  accusations  were  repeated,  that 
he  had  denied  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
had  spread  Wyclif's  doctrines  throughout  Bohemia, 
had  caused  the  emigration  of  the  German  members 
of  the  University,  and  had  disobeyed  the  Church 
and  caused  a  great  schism  among  the  people  of 
Bohemia,  and  especially  of  Prague. 

Before  he  was  taken  from  the  Council,  the 
Cardinal  of  Cambray  reproached  him  in  the  em- 
peror's presence  with  having  said  that  if  he  had 
not  wanted  to  come  to  the  Council,  neither  the  king 
nor  the  emperor  could  have  made  him,  at  which 
a  great  murmuring  was  heard  in  the  assembly. 
Whereupon  John  of  Chlum  boldly  exclaimed :  ''John 
Huss  has  asserted  nothing  but  what  is  true ;  for 
though  I  am  one  of  the  meanest  lords  in  Bohemia, 
I  would  undertake  to  defend  him  for  a  year  against 
all  the  forces  of  the  king  and  emperor.  Much 
more  could  the  other  nobles  do  who  are  more 
powerful  than  I."  Then  the  emperor  said  to  Huss: 
"We  advise  you  to  maintain  nothing  obstinately, 
and  to  submit  yourself  with  all  obedience  to  the 
authority  of  the  Council  in  all  the  articles  which 
have  been  exhibited  and  solidly  proved  against 
you,  which  if  you  do  we  will  take  care  that  for 
the  sake  of  the  king  and  kingdom  of  Bohemia  you 
shall  retire  with  the  good-will  of  the  Council,  after 


122  John  Huss:  Th^  Witne^ss. 

you  have  made  tolerable  penance  and  satisfaction; 
but  if  not,  the  Council  will  know  how  to  deal  with 
you.  For  our  part,  we  shall  be  so  far  from  sup- 
porting you  in  your  errors  and  obstinacy,  that  we 
will  with  our  own  hands  kindle  the  fire  to  burn 
you,  rather  than  tolerate  you  further.  You  will 
do  well,  then,  to  stand  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Council." 

The  next  day  took  place  the  third  and  last  hear- 
ing of  Huss,  in  which  were  read  and  discussed  the 
thirty-nine  articles  purporting  to  be  drawn  from 
his  writings.  And  here,  as  in  the  previous  hear- 
ing, he  acknowledged  some  of  the  articles  as  his, 
but  denied  those  which  had  been  garbled  by  his 
enemies,  especially  Stephen  Paletz.  When  the 
tenth  article  was  read,  in  which  it  was  said  that 
the  vicar  of  Christ  was  only  so  in  truth  if  he 
imitated  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the  words  of  Huss's 
answer  were  read:  ''If  the  pope  live  after  another 
manner  than  St.  Peter  did,  if  he  is  covetous,  he 
is  the  vicar  of  Judas  Iscariot  who  courted  the 
wages  of  iniquity,  by  selling  Jesus  Christ."  While 
this  answer  was  being  read,  the  fathers  of  the 
Council  stared  at  one  another  and  shook  their 
heads  with  a  sneer.  Again  when  a  passage  was 
read  in  which  Huss  compares  those  who  deliver 
a  heretic  to  the  secular  arm  before  conviction  to 
the  high  priests  and  Pharisees,  a  great  murmur 
arose  among  the  cardinals  and  bishops,  and  when 
he  attempted  to  explain  his  appeal  to  Christ,  they 
all  burst  out  laughing  at  him. 


Imprisonment,  Triai.  and  Death.        123 

A  dramatic  incident  occurred  apropos  of  the 
statement  that  if  a  pope  or  bishop  or  prelate  be 
in  deadly  sin,  he  is  neither  pope  nor  bishop  nor 
prelate.  This  Huss  had  acknowledged,  and  had 
quoted  in  support  of  his  statement  the  words  of 
Jerome,  Augustine,  Gregory,  and  others,  adding: 
"And  even  a  king  in  deadly  sin  is  not  worthily 
a  king  before  God,  according  to  those  words  which 
God  said  to  Saul  by  the  Prophet  Samuel,  'Because 
thou  hast  rejected  My  word,  I  will  reject  thee 
from  being  a  king.'  "  While  this  article  and  Huss's 
answer  thereto  were  being  read,  the  emperor  was 
talking  at  a  window  with  the  Elector  Palatine  and 
the  Burgrave  of  Nuremberg,  in  which  conversation 
they  said  amongst  other  things  that  they  never 
had  seen  a  more  pernicious  heretic  than  John  Huss. 
The  Cardinal  Cambray  called  the  emperor's  at- 
tention to  what  Huss  had  said,  and  Huss  was  com- 
manded to  repeat  the  words  that  had  just  been 
read;  i.  e.,  that  a  king  in  deadly  sin  is  unw^orthy 
of  God.  The  only  answer  the  emperor  made  was, 
"There  is  no  man  living  without  a  fault."  But 
the  Cardinal  Cambray  cried  out  angrily,  "Was  it 
not  enough  for  thee  to  have  abased  the  clergy, 
but  you  must  do  the  same  with  the  king?" 

At  the  end  of  the  session  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  to  induce  Huss  to  retract.  Cardinal 
Cambray  addressed  him  as  follows :  "You  see  how 
many  heinous  crimes  you  have  been  accused  of. 
You  are  now  to  consider  well  what  you  are  to  do. 


124  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

The  Council  has  but  two  things  to  propose  to  you, 
of  which  you  will  do  well  to  embrace  the  first, 
which  is  to  submit  yourself  humbly  to  their  sen- 
tence and  decree,  and  to  undergo,  without  repin- 
ing, whatever  they  shall  please  to  inflict  upon 
you;  in  which  case  you  will  be  treated  with  all  the 
gentleness  and  humanity  possible.  If  on  the  con- 
trary you  choose  the  other  way,  which  is  to  de- 
fend any  of  those  articles  laid  to  your  charge, 
and  to  demand  another  hearing  for  that  purpose, 
you  shall  not  indeed  be  refused  a  hearing;  but 
consider  well  that  here  are  a  great  many  persons  of 
weight  and  knowledge,  who  have  produced  such 
strong  arguments  against  your  articles  that  I  much 
fear  while  you  persist  in  your  defense,  your  obsti- 
nacy will  expose  you  to  some  fatal  consequence. 
This  I  say  not  as  your  judge,  but  as  your  mon- 
itor." 

Other  prelates  added  their  exhortations  and  en- 
treaties, to  all  of  which  Huss  replied  with  a  lowly 
countenance:  ''Reverend  Fathers,  I  have  already 
said  more  than  once  that  I  came  hither  of  my  own 
free  will,  not  to  maintain  anything  with  obstinacy, 
but  to  receive  instruction,  if  it  should  appear  that 
I  have  been  mistaken.  I  entreat  you  then  that 
I  may  be  allowed  to  explain  my  sentiments  more 
at  large,  and  if  I  do  not  support  them  by  certain 
and  solid  arguments,  then  I  will  readily  conform 
to  your  instructions,  as  you  desire." 

Thereupon  the  sentence  of  the  Council  was  read 


Imprisonment^  TriaIv  and  Death.        125 

to  him:  i.  That  he  should  confess  to  have  erred 
in  holding  those  articles  which  had  been  alleged 
against  him,  and  ask  pardon.  2.  That  he  should 
promise  upon  oath  never  to  hold  or  teach  them 
any  more.  3.  That  he  should  retract  them  in  pub- 
lic. This  Huss  firmly  declined  to  do,  ''for,"  said 
he,  "to  abjure  is  to  renounce  an  error  that  hath 
been  held.  But  as  there  are  many  errors  laid  to 
my  charge  which  have  never  entered  my  head,  how 
can  I  renounce  them  by  oath?"  He  refused  to 
accept  the  casuistical  ways  of  escape  from  this 
dilemma  suggested  by  the  emperor,  or  to  accept 
the  suggestion  made  by  the  Cardinal  of  Florence 
of  an  abjuration  **as  gentle  and  equitable  as  he 
perhaps  would  accept."  The  emperor  now  at  the 
end  of  his  patience  spoke  to  him  as  follows:  "You 
are  of  age,  and  after  vrhat  I  have  now  repeated  to 
you,  it  is  at  your  option  to  choose  the  alternative. 
We  can  not  but  give  credit  to  the  witnesses  against 
you.  Therefore  if  you  are  wise,  you  will  submit 
with  a  contrite  heart  to  the  penance  that  shall  be 
imposed  upon  you  by  the  Council;  you  will  re- 
nounce your  errors  because  they  are  manifest,  and 
you  will  swear  to  teach  and  hold  them  no  longer, 
but  on  the  contrary  to  oppose  them  as  long  as 
you  live;  otherwise  there  are  laws  according  to 
which  the  Council  will  judge  you." 

Huss  v/as  now  taken  back  to  prison,  tired  out 
in  body  and  mind,  but  of  an  unbroken  spirit.  When 
he  had  gone  the  emperor  addressed  the  Council  and 


126  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

said:  "You  have  heard  the  articles  laid  to  the 
charge  of  John  Huss.  In  my  opinion  there  is  not 
one  among  them  that  does  not  deserve  punishment 
by  fire.  If  therefore  he  do  not  retract  them  all, 
I  am  for  having  him  burnt." 

Thus  ended  the  last  hearing  of  Huss  before  the 
Council.  He  had  had  an  opportunity  of  facing 
his  accusers  while  the  long  list  of  accusations  was 
made  against  him.  But  in  spite  of  this  the  whole 
proceeding  was  but  a  mockery  of  justice.  From 
the  first  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  one  of 
two  things  must  happen,  either  he  must  recant  or 
be  condemned.  The  differences  between  him  and 
his  adversaries  were  irreconcilable,  and  no  amount 
of  argument  could  change  the  fact.  On  both  sides 
there  was  an  unshaken  determination  not  to  yield. 
In  Huss's  case  it  amounted  to  a  heroic  courage 
rarely  seen  even  in  the  annals  of  martyrdom. 
Alone,  sick  and  suffering,  weakened  by  months 
of  close  confinement,  he  never  for  a  moment  hesi- 
tated or  lost  his  firmness.  Quiet,  gentle,  yet  firm 
as  a  rock,  he  withstood  all  insults,  ridicule,  and 
threats. 

The  same  firmness  was  shown  after  the  Council, 
when  numerous  efforts  were  made  to  make  him 
recant.  Even  his  bitterest  and  most  unrelenting 
enemy,  Paletz,  visited  him  in  prison  and  urged 
him  to  yield,  telling  him  he  ought  not  to  fear  the 
shame  of  a  recantation,  but  only  to  think  of  the 
good  which  would  follow.     To  which  says  Huss: 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Dkath.        127 

"I  answered,  'The  disgrace  of  being  condemned 
and  burned  is  greater  than  that  of  recanting  sin- 
cerely. What  shame,  then,  should  I  fear  in  re- 
canting? But  tell  me,  Paletz,  what  would  you  do 
if  you  were  sure  that  errors  were  imputed  to  you 
wrongly?  Would  you  retract  them?  That  is 
hard/  said  he,  and  burst  into  tears." 

That  the  motives  that  led  Huss  to  hold  out 
against  all  these  entreaties  were  not  those  of  pride 
of  opinion,  or  of  mere  obstinacy,  is  shown  in  one 
of  his  noblest  letters  written  to  his  friends.  "These 
are  the  things  that  the  Council  has  often  demanded 
of  me.  But  they  imply  that  I  renounce  and  recant, 
that  I  accept  a  penitence,  and  this  I  can  not  do 
without  going  against  the  truth  in  many  things. 
For  I  would  perjure  myself  by  confessing  errors 
which  are  falsely  attributed  to  me.  Furthermore, 
I  should  give  an  occasion  of  great  scandal  to  the 
people  of  God  who  have  listened  to  my  preaching, 
and  it  would  be  better  that  a  millstone  were  hanged 
about  my  neck  and  that  I  should  be  plunged  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Finally,  if  I  should  act  thus 
to  escape  a  momentary  confusion  and  brief  suf- 
fering, I  should  fall  into  disgrace  and  suffering 
far  more  terrible,  unless  I  repented  before  my 
death.  This  is  why  I  have  thought,  in  order  to 
strengthen  myself,  on  the  seven  martyred  Macca- 
bees, who  preferred  to  be  cut  to  pieces  rather  than 
eat  meat  prohibited  by  God.  I  thought  also  of  the 
holy  Eleazar,  who  according  as  it  is  written  did 


128  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

not  even  wish  to  confess  that  he  had  eaten  for- 
bidden food,  for  fear  of  leaving  a  bad  example  to 
posterity,  but  preferred  a  martyr's  death.  Having, 
then,  before  my  eyes  many  saints  of  the  new  dis- 
pensation who  have  accepted  martyrdom,  rather 
than  to  consent  to  sin,  how  shall  I  who  have  ex- 
horted others  in  my  sermons  to  patience  and  firm- 
ness fall  into  perjury  and  vile  deceits,  and  of- 
fend by  my  example  many  children  of  our  Lord? 
Far  be  it  from  me!  Far  be  it  from  me!  Our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ  will  reward  me 
plentifully,  and  will  give  me  in  my  trials  the  help 
of  patience." 

Owing  to  the  desire  of  the  emperor  and  others 
to  secure  his  recantation,  the  formal  condemnation 
was  put  off  for  several  weeks.  On  June  15th  the 
Council  declared  heretical  the  doctrine  of  Jacobel 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  Eucharist  in  two  kinds, 
which  had  grown  important  in  Bohemia  after 
Huss's  departure,  and  which  he  had  approved  in 
his  letters  from  prison.  On  June  24th  they  re- 
solved to  burn  Huss's  books,  hoping  in  this  way 
to  bend  his  stubborn  will.  But  all  was  in  vain,  as 
may  be  seen  from  his  letter  to  his  friends  in  Bo- 
hemia, exhorting  them  not  to  cease  reading  his 
writings,  nor  to  give  them  up  to  be  burnt. 

The  day  before  his  sentence  and  death  the  em- 
peror made  one  final  attempt  to  persuade  him  to 
recant.  He  sent  a  distinguished  delegation,  con- 
sisting  of    four   bishops,    accompanied   by    Huss's 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Death.        129 

faithful  friends,  Duba  and  Chluni,  to  ask  him 
^'whether  he  would  abjure  those  articles  which  he 
acknowledged  as  his,  and  as  to  those  which  he  did 
not  own,  though  they  were  proved,  whether  he 
would  swear  that  he  did  not  hold  them,  and  that  he 
had  no  other  sentiments  than  those  of  the  Church." 
To  which  Huss  replied  that  he  stood  by  the  declara- 
tion he  had  made  on  the  first  of  July.  The  declara- 
ration  referred  to  he  had  given  to  another  deputation 
that  had  visited  him  on  that  day,  and  reads  as  fol- 
lows: ''Fearing  to  offend  God  and  to  perjure  my- 
self, I  am  not  willing  to  abjure  any  of  the  articles 
that  have  been  exhibited  against  me  by  false  evi- 
dences, and  which  I  call  God  to  witness,  were  never 
preached  nor  defended  by  me,  as  they  are  laid  to 
my  charge.  As  to  the  articles  extracted  from  my 
books,  I  declare  that  if  there  is  any  one  of  them 
which  carries  any  errors  in  it  I  abhor  it,  but  am 
not  willing  to  abjure  one  of  them,  for  fear  of  of- 
fending the  truth  and  the  sentiments  of  the  holy 
doctors.  And  if  it  were  possible  that  my  voice 
reach  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  as  clearly 
as  every  lie,  and  as  all  my  sins  shall  be  made  mani- 
fest at  the  last  day,  I  would  heartily  revoke  before 
the  whole  world  every  falsehood  or  error  which  I 
may  have  said  or  conceived.  This  is  what  I  declare, 
and  what  I  freely  and  voluntarily  write."  It  was 
this  written  declaration  to  which,  as  his  ultimatum, 
Huss  now  referred  the  last  commission  who  vis- 
ited him. 
9 


I30  John  Huss:  The  Witne:ss. 

On  this  occasion  a  noble  and  touching  inci- 
dent occurred,  related  as  follows  by  Peter  of 
Mladenowic:  ''When  they  were  taking  Huss  out 
of  prison  to  meet  the  commissioners,  Chlum  spoke 
to  him:  'Master  John,  I  am  a  layman,  and  can 
not  presume  to  offer  you  advice.  Therefore  if 
you  feel  yourself  guilty  of  any  one  of  those  things 
of  which  you  are  accused,  do  not  be  ashamed  to  be 
instructed  by  them  and  to  recant.  But  if  you  do 
not  feel  you  are  guilty,  follow  your  own  con- 
science, nor  be  guilty  of  falsehood  in  the  sight  of 
God,  but  rather  stand  fast  in  the  truth  which  you 
have  known,  even  unto  death."  And  Huss,  shed- 
ding tears,  answered  humbly :  "Sir  John,  know  this: 
if  I  felt  that  I  had  written  or  preached  any  errors 
against  the  law  and  Holy  Mother  Church,  I  would 
humbly  recant,  as  God  is  my  witness." 

We  now  come  to  the  last  sad  scene  in  the 
drama  of  Huss's  life.  On  July  6,  141 5,  the  fif- 
teenth session  of  the  Council  was  held,  the  chief 
business  of  which  was  the  condemnation  and  sen- 
tence of  Huss.  Every  one  of  note  in  the  city  was 
present,  either  out  of  curiosity  or  to  rejoice  in  the 
final  destruction  of  a  famous  and  obstinate  heretic. 
The  emperor,  with  all  the  princes  of  the  empire, 
was  likewise  present,  lending  solemnity  to  the  oc- 
casion. A  platform  in  the  form  of  a  table  of  a 
certain  height  was  erected  in  the  middle  of  the 
church,  upon  which  were  the  priestly  garments  in 
which  Huss  was  to  be  clothed  before  the  ceremony 


Imprisonment^  Trial  and  Death.        131 

of  his  degradation  began.  He  himself  was  placed 
on  a  high  stool  before  the  table,  in  order  that  all 
the  people  might  see  him.  He  made  a  prayer  in 
a  loud  voice,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Bishop 
of  Lodi  began  his  sermon. 

The  text  of  the  sermon  was  from  St.  Paul, 
''That  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed ;"  and  in 
it  the  preacher  showed  among  other  things  how 
much  heresies  distract  and  harm  the  Church.  After 
the  sermon  the  proceedings  against  Huss  were  be- 
gun, but  not  before  a  decree  of  the  Council  was 
read  forbidding  all  manifestations,  either  of  ap- 
proval or  disapproval,  on  pain  of  excommunication 
and  imprisonment,  not  excepting  kings  and  princes. 
The  first  thing  read  was  the  condemnation  of  ad- 
ditional articles  by  Wyclif,  for  we  must  bear  in 
mind  that  Huss's  errors  were  considered  to  be 
fundamentally  based  on  those  of  Wyclif.  After 
the  reading  of  these  articles,  some  thirty  more  of 
Huss's  were  read.  When  all  these  preliminaries 
were  over,  the  Bishop  of  Concordia  read  two  sen- 
tences, one  condemning  the  books  of  Huss  to  be 
burnt,  the  other  condemning  Huss  himself  to  be 
degraded  from  his  office  as  priest. 

It  is  worth  while  recording  this  latter  sen- 
tence in  the  actual  words  in  which  it  was  read: 
"The  sacred  Council  of  Constance,  after  having 
called  upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  having 
the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  does  pronounce, 
decree,  and  declare  that  the  said  John  Huss  was 


132  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

and  is  a  real  and  notorious  heretic,  who  has  pub- 
licly taught  and  preached  errors  and  heresies  long 
ago  condemned  by  the  Church  of  God;  that  he 
has  advanced  several  things  scandalous,  offensive 
to  pious  ears,  rash  and  seditious,  to  the  great  re- 
proach of  the  divine  majesty,  to  the  offense  of 
the  whole  Church,  and  to  the  detriment  of  the 
Catholic  faith;  that  he  has  trampled  the  keys  of 
the  Church  and  the  ecclesiastical  censures  under 
foot;  and  that  he  has  resolutely  persisted  in  scan- 
dalizing Christians  by  his  obstinacy  in  appealing 
to  Jesus  Christ,  as  to  a  sovereign  judge,  without 
employing  the  ecclesiastical  ways  and  means;  and 
inserting  in  the  said  appeal  things  false,  injurious, 
and  scandalous,  in  contempt  of  the  Apostolic  See, 
the  censures  and  the  keys  of  the  Church.  There- 
fore this  sacred  Synod,  for  the  reasons  above  men- 
tioned and  many  others,  decrees  that  John  Huss 
ought  to  be  judged  and  condemned  as  a  heretic, 
and  does  actually  judge  and  condemn  him  by  these 
presents,  and  reproves  his  appeal  as  injurious,  scan- 
dalous, and  made  in  derision  of  the  spiritual  juris- 
diction. But  as  it  is  apparent,  from  all  the  Synod 
has  seen,  heard,  and  known,  that  John  Huss  is 
stubborn  and  incorrigible,  and  that  he  will  not 
return  to  the  pale  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church,  by 
abjuring  the  errors  and  heresies  which  he  has 
publicly  maintained  and  preached,  the  sacred 
Synod  of  Constance  declares  that  the  said  John 
Huss  ought  to  be  deposed  and  degraded  from  the 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Dkath.        133 

order  of  priesthood,  and  the  other  orders  with 
which  he  shall  happen  to  be  vested,  giving  it  in 
express  charge  to  the  reverend  fathers  in  Christ 
the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  the  Bishops  of  Feltri, 
Ast,  Alexandria,  Bangor,  and  Lavour,  to  perform 
the  said  degradation  in  the  presence  of  the  Synod, 
according  to  law." 

Huss  listened  to  the  reading  of  this  sentence 
on  his  knees,  and  from  time  to  time  he  tried  to 
protest  against  the  accusations  made  against  him. 
He  was.  prevented  from  speaking  by  those  near 
him.  When  the  reading  of  the  sentence  was  ended, 
he  called  God  to  witness  that  he  was  innocent,  and 
prayed  Him  to  forgive  his  judges  and  accusers. 
This,  however,  was  received  with  tokens  of  anger 
and  mockery  on  the  part  of  the  Council.  Here- 
upon followed  the  ceremony  of  degradation.  He 
was  ordered  to  put  on  the  priestly  robes.  This  he 
did,  uttering  words  recording  the  similar  ceremony 
in  the  case  of  Christ.  Thus  when  he  put  on  the 
robe  he  said,  "They  put  a  white  garment  on  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  when  Herod  delivered  Him  to 
Pilate."  Finally,  when  he  was  fully  dressed  they 
asked  him  once  more  to  recant;  but  he,  facing  the 
people,  denied  having  any  desire  to  offend  or  lead 
astray  the  faithful  by  a  hypocritical  and  wicked  re- 
cantation, protesting  at  the  same  time  his  inno- 
cence. Then  he  was  forced  to  descend  from  his 
seat,  and  the  bishops,  taking  the  chalice  from  his 
hands,   said:   "O   cursed  Judas,   who  having   for- 


134  John  Huss:  The:  Witne:ss. 

saken  the  counsel  of  peace  art  entered  into  that 
of  the  Jews,  we  take  this  chahce  from  thee  in 
which  is  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ."  With  sim- 
ilar curses  they  took  from  him  each  of  his  vest- 
ments, and  finally  cut  his  hair  in  such  manner  as 
to  conceal  his  tonsure.  They  then  put  a  paper 
crown  or  mitre  on  his  head  in  the  form  of  a  pyra- 
mid, about  eighteen  inches  in  height,  on  which 
were  painted  grotesque  figures  of  devils,  and  the 
word  "Heresiarcha" — arch-heretic — and  in  this 
condition  they  devoted  his  soul  to  the  devils  in  hell. 

Unshaken  even  by  this  solemn  anathema,  Huss 
commended  his  soul  to  God,  and  said  aloud  that 
he  was  glad  to  wear  this  crown  of  infamy,  for  the 
love  of  Him  who  had  worn  one  of  thorns.  After  all 
this  he  was  handed  over  to  the  secular  arm.  The 
emperor  gave  him  in  charge  of  the  Elector  Palatine, 
who  delivered  him  to  the  magistrates  of  Constance. 
They  in  their  turn  ordered  the  public  executioner 
to  burn  him,  with  all  his  clothes  and  everything 
he  had  on  his  person,  even  to  his  girdle,  knife,  and 
purse,  with  every  penny  in  it. 

Surrounded  by  the  city  constabulary,  followed 
by  armed  men  and  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
people,  he  was  led  through  the  streets  of  the  city 
to  the  place  of  execution,  passing  on  the  way 
thither  the  episcopal  palace,  where  his  books  were 
being  burnt.  As  he  approached  the  place  of  exe- 
cution he  fell  on  his  knees  and  cried  out,  "Lord 
Jesus,  have  mercy  on  me;  into  Thy  hands,  O  God, 


Imprisonment,  Trial  and  Dkath.        135 

1  commend  my  spirit."  Whereupon  some  of  the 
people  said  aloud,  "What  this  man  hath  done  he- 
fore  we  know  not,  but  now  we  hear  him  put  up 
excellent  prayers  to  God."  As  he  was  about  to 
address  the  people  he  was  interrupted  by  the  Elec- 
tor Palatine,  who  ordered  the  executioners  to  pro- 
ceed to  do  their  duty.  As  he  raised  his  eyes 
toward  heaven  his  paper  mitre  fell  off,  at  which 
he  smiled ;  but  the  soldiers  put  it  on  his  head  again, 
saying  it  must  be  burnt  with  the  devils  whom  he 
served. 

As  they  tied  him  to  the  stake  his  face  was 
turned  toward  the  east,  but  since  it  was  not  proper 
for  a  heretic  to  die  looking  in  that  direction  they 
turned  him  round  toward  the  west.  As  the  wood 
v/as  being  piled  up  about  him,  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine made  a  final  appeal  to  him  to  recant,  only 
to  receive  the  sublime  answer:  "God  is  my  wit- 
ness that  I  have  never  taught  nor  preached  those 
things  which  have  been  falsely  ascribed  to  me,  and 
the  chief  aim  of  all  my  preaching,  writing,  and 
acts  was  that  I  might  save  men  from  sin;  and 
to-day  I  am  willing  and  glad  to  die  for  that  truth 
of  the  gospel  which  I  have  taught,  written,  and 
preached."  Whereupon  the  executioner  set  fire 
to  the  fagots,  and  while  the  flames  were  rising 
higher  and  higher  he  cried,  "O  Christ,  thou  Son 
of  the  living  God,  have  mercy  upon  us !"  A  second 
time  he  cried  out,  "Thou  Son  of  the  living  God, 
have  mercy  upon  us !"  but  when  for  the  third  time 


136  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

he  began  to  say,  "Thou  who  wast  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,"  a  gust  of  wind  blew  the  flames  into 
his  face,  and  while  his  lips  still  moved  he  gave  up 
the  ghost. 

When  the  wood  was  all  burnt  the  body  was 
still  seen  to  be  hanging  to  the  stake  by  means  of 
the  chain.  The  executioners  beat  the  stake  and  all 
tliat  remained  on  it  to  the  ground,  piled  up  more 
wood  iipon  it,  and  burnt  the  remains.  The  heart 
having  fallen  out  of  the  body,  they  stuck  it  on  a 
stick  and  held  it  in  the  fire  till  it  was  destroyed. 
Every  article  of  clothing  was  likewise  burnt,  in 
order,  as  the  Elector  Palatine  said,  that  the  Bo- 
hemians might  not  have  anything  to  keep  as  relics. 
Not  only  this,  but  the  ashes  were  carefully  gath- 
ered together  with  some  of  the  earth  where  the 
stake  had  stood,  were  loaded  on  a  cart  and  car- 
ried to  the  neighboring  Rhine,  where  they  were 
cast  into  the  river,  in  order  that  not  a  speck  of  his 
dust  might  remain  on  earth.  But  the  spot  remained 
holy  ground  to  the  Bohemians,  who  dug  up  the 
soil  and  carried  it  back  to  their  native  land  as  a 
precious  relic. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  WARS  OF  THE  HUSSITES. 

We:  have  followed  the  fortunes  of  Huss  so 
closely  in  the  preceding  pages,  that  we  have  left 
out  of  sight  many  important  and  interesting  events 
that  were  closely  connected  with  him  and  his  teach- 
ings. His  power  did  not  cease  with  his  life.  As 
we  have  already  shown  that  in  order  to  estimate 
him  aright  it  was  necessary  to  give  a  general  view 
of  reformatory  ideas  throughout  the  Middle  Ages, 
so  for  the  same  reason  we  can  not  close  this  brief 
account  of  his  life  with  the  description  of  his 
death.  With  him  it  was  especially  true  that  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church. 
During  all  the  terrible  events  that  occurred  in  Bo- 
hemia for  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  his  death, 
the  spirit  of  Huss  was  the  leading  influence,  and 
like  the  spirit  of  Julius  Caesar  in  Shakespeare's 
play,  lent  unity  to  the  whole  movement  of  the  Bo- 
hemian Reformation. 

Before  discussing  the  Hussite  wars,  however, 
a  word  or  two  must  be  devoted  to  the  fate  of 
Huss's  friend  and  fellow  reformer,  Jerome  of 
Prague.  We  have  seen  how  he  came  to  Constance, 
how  he  hastily  departed,  was  captured  and  brought 
137 


138  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

back  a  prisoner.  Already  before  Huss's  condem- 
nation Jerome  had  undergone  an  examination  be- 
fore the  Comicil,  where  amid  cries  of  ''To  the  stake 
with  him!"  he  defended  his  opinions  with  elo- 
quence and  force.  That  night  Peter  of  Mladenowic 
knocked  at  the  window  of  his  prison,  and  cried 
out:  ''Be  steadfast,  and  fear  not  to  die  for  the 
truth,  concerning  which  you  said  such  noble  things 
when  you  were  free."  To  which  Jerome  answered : 
"In  truth,  brother,  I  do  not  fear  death,  and  as  we 
once  have  said  many  things  concerning  the  truth, 
we  shall  now  see  how  it  works  in  practice." 

Alas  for  poor  human  nature !  Jerome's  glory 
was  not  destined  to  shine  with  the  pure,  unsullied 
luster  of  that  of  Huss.  Worn  out  by  sickness,  his 
spirit  broken  by  long  confinement  in  chains,  in- 
timidated by  threats,  in  his  third  hearing  before 
the  Council,  September  11,  1415,  he  was  forced 
to  recant,  signing  a  document  in  which  he  sub- 
mitted to  the  will  of  the  Council,  and  approved  the 
condemnation  of  Wyclif  and  Huss.  But  during 
the  long  months  of  prison  life  that  followed  a 
change  came  over  him,  his  courage  reasserted  it- 
self, a  feeling  of  bitter  remorse  took  possession 
of  him,  and  when  on  May  30,  1416,  he  was  brought 
again  before  the  Council  he  gave  a  marvelous  ex- 
hibition of  lofty  courage  and  extraordinary  elo- 
quence and  power. 

A  striking  witness  to  the  power  of  speech  is 
that  scene  where,  surrounded  by  hostile  men,  con- 


The  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  139 

fronted  by  all  the  power,  dignity,  and  learning  of 
Christendom,  Jerome  made  a  public  withdrawal 
of  his  former  recantation.  So  nobly  did  he  speak 
that,  says  Poggio  Bracciolini,  ''Everybody  was 
touched  to  the  quick  and  wished  he  might  escape." 
He  declared  that  he  had  done  nothing  in  his  whole 
life  that  he  ever  repented  of  so  bitterly  as  he  did 
his  recantation ;  that  he  revoked  it  frorii  his  very 
soul ;  that  he  had  lied  like  a  miscreant  in  making 
that  recantation ;  and  that  John  Huss  w^as  a  holy 
man.  And  when  he  was  threatened  with  punish- 
ment if  he  did  not  repent,  he  is  said  to  have  made 
this  prophetical  answer :  "You  have  resolved  to  con- 
demn me  maliciously  and  unjustly,  without  having 
convicted  me  of  any  crime,  but  after  my  death  I 
will  leave  a  sting  in  your  conscience  and  a  worm 
that  shall  never  die.  I  make  my  appeal  from  hence 
to  the  sovereign  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  in  whose 
presence  you  shall  appear  to  answer  me  a  hundred 
years  hence.'* 

After  this  there  was  nothing  more  for  the 
Council  to  do  than  to  proceed  to  sentence  him  to 
the  same  death  that  Huss  had  suffered.  The  story 
of  his  martyrdom  is  even  more  inspiring  than  that 
of  his  master,  Huss.  He  seemed  anxious  to  make 
amends  for  his  former  weakness  by  maintaining 
now  a  brave  and  unruffled  demeanor.  When  they 
gave  him  a  paper  mitre  with  the  devils  painted 
upon  it,  similar  to  that  given  to  Huss,  Jerome  cast 
his  hat  among  the  priests  that  surrounded  him,  and 


I40  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

put  the  mitre  on  his  head  with  his  own  hands,  say- 
ing he  was  glad  to  wear  it  for  the  sake  of  Him 
who  was  crowned  with  thorns.  And  as  he  was 
led  by  the  soldiers  through  the  streets  to  the  place 
of  execution  he  sung  the  Apostle's  Creed  and  the 
hymns  of  the  Church  in  a  loud  voice  and  with  a 
cheerful  countenance.  When  he  came  to  the  place 
where  Huss  had  been  executed,  he  knelt  down  be- 
fore the  stake  and  with  a  low  voice  made  a  long 
prayer,  and  while  he  was  being  stripped  and  bound 
to  the  stake,  and  the  wood  was  piled  up  about  him, 
he  raised  his  voice  and  sang  the  hymn, 

"  Salve  festa  dies  toto  venerabilis  sevo 
Qua  Deus  infernum  vicit  et  astra  tenens." 

And  then,  after  having  repeated  the  Creed,  he  ad- 
dressed the  multitude,  and  said:  "Dear  friends, 
know  that  even  as  I  have  now  sung,  so  do  I  be- 
lieve, and  not  otherwise."  When  fire  was  set  to  the 
wood  he  cried  out  in  Latin,  "Lord,  into  Thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit."  And  when  he  was  almost 
smothered  by  the  flame  he  cried  out  in  Bohemian, 
"O,  Lord  God  Almighty,  have  mercy  on  me  and 
pardon  my  transgressions,  for  Thou  knowest  that 
I  have  sincerely  loved  Thy  truth ;"  and  with  these 
words  he  gave  up  the  ghost. 

Many  writers  of  the  times  bear  witness  to  the 
firmness  with  which  Jerome  met  his  death,  ^neas 
Sylvius,  afterward  Pope  Pius  H,  says:  "Huss  was 
burnt  first,  and  after  him  Jerome  of  Prague.    They 


The  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  141 

suffered  death  with  very  great  constancy,  and  went 
to  the  fire  as  cheerfully  as  if  it  had  been  to  a  feast, 
without  making  any  complaint.  We  do  not  find 
that  any  of  the  philosophers  ever  suffered  death 
with  so  much  constancy."  In  a  letter  written  to 
Lionardo  Bruni,  Poggio  Bracciolini  speaks  of  Je- 
rome's eloquence  and  constancy:  "I  confess  that 
I  have  never  heard  any  person,  in  the  defense  of  a 
criminal  cause,  who  came  nearer  to  that  eloquence 
of  the  ancients  which  we  admire  every  day,  and 
when  the  executioners  came  from  behind  to  light 
the  fire  he  cried  out:  'Come  forward  and  set  fire 
to  it  before  my  face.  For  had  I  been  afraid,  I 
should  not  have  come  hither  when  I  might  so 
easily  have  avoided  it.'  Thus  died  a  man  whose 
merit  can  not  be  sufficiently  admired.  I  was  a 
witness  of  his  end,  and  have  considered  all  the  acts. 
Whether  he  was  guilty  of  insincerity  or  obstinacy, 
I  know  not;  but  never  was  there  a  death  more 
philosophical." 

With  the  execution  of  Jerome  we  must  leave 
the  city  of  Constance  and  turn  our  eyes  to  Bo- 
hemia, where  even  after  the  death  of  Huss  his 
influence  remained  all  powerful.  During  his  ab- 
sence in  Constance  one  question  had  grown  up 
that  was  destined  to  play  a  very  important  role  in 
the  whole  movement  of  Hussitism.  In  early  times 
it  had  been  customary  to  present  ,both  the  wafer 
and  the  cup  to  the  laity  during  the  celebration  of 
the  Eucharist.     This  custom,  however,  had  grad- 


142  John  Huss:  The  Witni^ss. 

ually  been  given  up  in  most  countries  entirely,  and 
in  Bohemia  to  some  extent.  In  the  latter  country, 
however,  a  bitter  strife  arose  over  this  question, 
which  was  led  by  a  certain  Jacob  of  Mies,  called 
on  account  of  his  small  stature  Jacobel.  Through 
his  influence  the  custom  of  giving  the  cup  or 
chalice  spread  throughout  nearly  all  Bohemia,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Council  of  Constance  sol- 
emnly condemned  his  doctrine.  It  was  undoubt- 
edly an  additional  cause  for  hatred  toward  Huss 
that  the  leaders  of  this  movement  for  the  Eu- 
charist in  two  kinds  were  among  his  followers. 
He  himself,  although  he  had  nothing  to  do  in 
starting  the  m.ovement,  had  written  a  letter  from 
his  prison  endorsing  of  the  doctrine  of  Jacobel. 

The  attitude  of  the  Council  on  this  question 
was  in  itself  enough  to  cause  a  wide  rift  between 
the  Bohemians  and  the  Church.  Yet  this  was 
nothing  to  the  feeling  stirred  up  by  the  treatment 
of  Huss  and  Jerome  in  Constance,  a  feeling  which 
rose  to  a  veritable  fury  when  both  men  were  slain. 
Nor  did  the  Council  or  the  king  seem  to  be  fully 
aware  of  the  seriousness  of  the  situation.  At  the 
news  of  Huss's  death  the  nobles  had  met  in  Beth- 
lehem Chapel,  had  decreed  honors  of  martyrdom 
to  Huss,  and  sent  a  letter  of  protest  to  the  Coun- 
cil, signed  by  sixty  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
of  the  land. 

The  spirit  of  indignation  shown  in  this  protest 
gives  us  a  clear  idea  of  the  state  of  mind  which 


TiiK  Wars  oi?  the  Hussites.  143 

pervaded  all  Bohemia,  and  explains  the  long  and 
wonderfully  successful  contests  which  the  follow- 
ers of  Huss  maintained  against  the  Roman  Church 
and  its  defender,  Emperor  Sigismund.  "As  by 
the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  every  one  should  do 
to  others  as  he  would  that  they  should  do  to  him, 
and  as  we  ought  not  to  do  that  to  others  which 
we  would  not  that  they  should  do  to  us;  after  re- 
flection upon  that  divine  maxim  of  love  to  our 
neighbor,  we  have  thought  fit  to  write  these  letters 
to  you  touching  the  Reverend  Master  John  Huss, 
regular  Bachelor  of  Divinity  and  Preach,er  of  the 
Gospel.  ^Meantime  we  know  not  from  w^hat  motive 
you  first  condemned  him  in  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, and  then  put  him  to  a  cruel  and  ignomini- 
ous death  as  an  obstinate  heretic,  without  his  hav- 
ing made  any  confession,  or  being  convicted  of 
any  error  or  heresy,  upon  the  false  and  sinister 
accusations  of  his  capital  enemies,  and  the  enemies 
of  our  kingdom,  and  of  the  Marquisate  of  IMoravia, 
and  by  the  instigation  and  importunity  of  certain 
traitors,  to  the  eternal  scandal  of  our  most  Chris- 
tian Kingdom  of  Bohem.ia  and  to  us  all.  We  pro- 
test, therefore,  with  the  heart  as  wxll  as  the  lips, 
that  Master  John  Huss  w^as  a  man  very  honest, 
ji^st,  and  catholic;  that  for  many  years  he  con- 
versed among  us  with  godliness  void  of  offense. 
That  during  all  that  time  he  explained  to  us  and 
our  subjects  the  Gospel  and  the  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  according  to  the  exposition 


144  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witness. 

of  the  holy  doctors  approved  by  the  Church ;  and 
that  he  has  left  writings  behind  him,  wherein  he 
constantly  abhors  all  error  and  all  heresy,  as  he 
taught  us  to  detest  them,  exhorting  us  at  the  same 
time,  without  ceasing,  to  peace  and  charity,  and 
persuading  us  to  it  by  both  his  discourses  and  ex- 
ample. So  that  we  can  not  find  after  all  the  in- 
quiry we  have  made,  that  the  said  Master  John 
Huss  ever  taught  or  preached  any  error  or  heresy 
whatsoever,  or  that  he  offended  any  of  us  or  our 
subjects  in  word  or  deed.  On  the  contrary,  he 
has  lived  with  piety  and  good  conduct,  exhorting 
all  mankind  to  the  observation  of  the  gospel  and 
of  the  maxims  of  the  holy  fathers  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  Holy  Mother  Church  and  of  our  neigh- 
bors. 

*'You  are  not  content  with  disgracing  us  and 
our  kingdom  of  Bohemia  by  these  undertakings, 
but  you  have  unmercifully  imprisoned,  and  per- 
haps already  put  to  death,  Master  Jerome  of 
Prague,  who  certainly  was  a  torrent  of  eloquence. 
Besides  this,  we  have  heard  to  our  very  great  sor- 
row that  certain  slanderers,  hateful  to  God  and 
men,  treacherous  enemies  to  the  kingdom  of  Bo- 
hemia, have  wickedly  and  falsely  reported  to  you 
and  your  Council  that  in  the  said  kingdom  sev- 
eral errors  were  propagated  which  had  infected 
us  and  many  others  of  the  faithful. 

"We  make  known  to  you.  Fathers,  by  these 
presents  and  also  to  all  Christian  people,  with  a 


The:  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  145 

firm  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ,  attended  with  a 
pure  and  sincere  conscience  and  an  orthodox  faith, 
that  whosoever  of  any  rank,  pre-eminence,  dignity, 
degree  or  rehgion  whatsoever  he  be,  has  said  and 
affirmed,  or  doth  say  and  affirm,  that  errors  and 
heresies  are  propagated  in  the  kingdom  of  Bo- 
hemia, has  told  a  capital  lie,  as  a  villain  and  traitor, 
the  only  dangerous  heretic  and  a  child  of  the 
devil,  who  -is  a  liar  and  a  murderer.  And  notwith- 
standing all  that  has  passed  we  are  resolved  to 
sacrifice  our  lives  for  the  defense  of  the  law  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  of  His  faithful  preachers,  who 
declare  it  with  zeal,  humility,  and  constancy,  with- 
out being  shocked  by  all  human  constitutions  that 
shall  oppose  this  resolution."  To  this  letter  the 
Council  replied  February  23,  1416,  summoning 
the  signers  to  Constance — a  citation,  however, 
which  they  did  not  obey. 

Thus  finally  the  gauge  of  war  was  cast.  On 
the  one  side  stood  the  Roman  Church  with  its  pow- 
erful hierarchy,  supported  by  the  Emperor  Sigis- 
mund;  on  the  other  stood  practically  the  whole 
Bohemian  nation,  for  by  this  time  not  only  the 
upper  classes,  but  even  the  peasants,  had  become 
followers  of  the  martyred  Huss.  If  they  had  only 
agreed  among  themselves,  they  might  have  finally 
succeeded  in  forming  a  national  Church,  or  even 
have  anticipated  by  a  hundred  years  the  great 
Reformation.  But  alas!  difference  of  opinion  on 
matters  of  belief,  as  well  as  of  politics,  almost 
10 


146  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

from  the  beginning  separated  them  into  several 
distinct  groups.  Before  we  can  understand  the 
trend  matters  took  in  Bohemia  for  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  get  some  idea 
of  these  different  groups  and  of  the  men  who  led 
them.  - 

Of  the  loyal  Catholics  it  is  not  to  our  purpose 
here  to  speak.     They  formed  in  the  beginning  a 
very  small  minority,  and  constantly  kept  plotting 
against  the   Hussites,   and   especially   did   all   they 
could  to  sow  discord  among  them.     The  followers 
of  Huss  may  be  divided  into  two  great  divisions, 
the  Calixtines   (sometimes  called  Utraquists),  and 
the  Taborites.     The  former  was  the  conservative 
party,  whose  chief  tenet  was  the  use  of  the  cup 
(calix,   whence   their   party   name)    by   the   laity. 
There  were  various  shades,  among  them  some  ap- 
proaching very  nearly  to  the  Catholics,  and  others 
on  the  other  hand  not  easy  to  distinguish  from  the 
Taborites.     Both  they  and  the  latter,  however,  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  end  to  the  famous  articles 
which  was  for  them  the  irreducible  minimum  in  all 
negotiations    with    the    Emperor    Sigismund    and 
others   for   all   the   years   to   come.     These   Four 
Articles  are  as  follows:   i.  The  demand  that  the 
Eucharist  be  administered  in  two  kinds.     2.  That 
the    free    preaching    of    the    gospel    be    allowed. 
3.  That  the  punishment  of  public  sins  be  without 
privilege  of  the  clergy;  and  4.  That  the  temporal 
property   of   priests   and   religious   institutions   be 
administered  by  the  civil  authorities. 


The  Wars  o^  thk  Hussites.  147 

The  party  of  the  Calixtines  was  composed  of 
the  leading  men  of  Bohemia,  and  was  largely  re- 
cruited from  the  upper  classes.  The  vast  majority 
of  the  people,  however,  belonged  to  the  radical 
party,  or  Taborites,  as  they  were  called,  from  the 
newly  organized  city  of  Tabor,  which  was  built  by 
them,  and  which  remained  the  center  of  their  re- 
ligious and  political  life  during  all  the  years  in 
which  they  still  existed  as  an  organized  body. 

We  must  by  no  means,  however,  think  of  the 
Taborites  as  a  compact  and  harmonious  party.  In 
it  were  gathered  together  all  those  who,  starting 
out  from  Huss's  doctrines,  carried  them  to  radical 
extremes  along  lines  both  social  and  political. 
What  happens  in  all  times  of  great  revolutions 
among  the  people  happened  now.  All  the  strange, 
mystic,  extravagant,  and  superstitious  doctrines 
that  had  flourished  among  the  Cathari  and  Wal- 
densians,  and  that  were  to  flourish  later  in  the 
sects  that  swarmed  through  all  Europe  during  the 
Reformation,  a  brood  whose  descendants  exist  in 
many  places  even  to-day,  then  showed  themselves 
among  the  Taborites. 

Among  them  we  may  mention  briefly  the 
Picards,  the  Nicolaites,  and  the  Millennarians,  those 
who  believed  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at 
hand,  that  the  old  dreams  of  Joachim  da  Fiori 
were  about  to  come  true,  that  a  new  era  of  peace 
and  holiness  was  to  appear  on  the  earth,  when 
there  should  be  no  more  sin  or  selfishness,  when 


148  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

all  men  should  be  free  and  equal,  all  distinctions 
between  nobles  and  peasants  be  wiped  out,  prop- 
erty abolished,  labor  unnecessary,  hunger  and  pov- 
erty unknown,  and  when  all  men  having  become 
holy  there  should  no  longer  be  any  need  for  the 
Bible  or  churches  or  creeds.  Those  who  believed 
in  the  speedy  end  of  the  world  sold  their  property 
to  prepare  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord ;  strange  in- 
dividuals rose  here  and  there  proclaiming  them- 
selves to  be  Moses  or  Christ.  Many,  the  so-called 
Adamites,  went  so  far  as  to  preach  the  doctrine  of 
all  things  in  common,  even  to  families  and  wives. 
Against  these  half-insane  enthusiasts,  however, 
Ziska  arose,  with  the  unrelenting  cruelty  he  used 
towards  his  enemies,  and  soon  practically  all  were 
destroyed  in  battle  or  by  execution. 

The  real  party  of  the  Taborites,  however,  was 
composed  of  men  more  reasonable.  While  despis- 
ing the  radical  extremes  of  the  Adamites  and 
Picards,  they  likewise  despised  the  lukewarmness 
of  the  Calixtines,  who  at  all  times  showed  a  will- 
ingness to  make  peace  with  the  emperor  and  the 
Church  on  the  basis  alone  of  the  Four  Articles. 
The  Taborites  themselves  were  uncompromising, 
and  prepared  themselves  for  the  inevitable  struggle 
which  they  foresaw  was  soon  to  come.  They  ac- 
cepted the  Four  Articles  as  the  Calixtines  did, 
but  in  addition  to  that  they  discarded  most  of  the 
ritual  and  the  ancient  customs  of  the  Church.  They 
declared  that  Christ  was  the  only  lawgiver,  and 


The:  Wars  oi?  the  Hussites.  149 

that  His  word  is  sufficient  to  teach  us  what  that 
law  is.  They  swept  ruthlessly  away  all  the  accu- 
mulated debris  of  the  ages,  and  on  the  ruins  of  the 
papal  and  ecclesiastical  power  they  raised  a  new 
Church,  based  on  the  authority  alone  of  two  things, 
the  Bible  and  the  human  conscience.  Thus  we  sec 
that  while  on  the  one  hand  the  Calixtines  were  but 
little  different  from  the  orthodox  Catholics,  retain- 
ing all  their  dogmas,  the  seven  sacraments,  in- 
vocation of  the  saints,  worship  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  and  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  the 
Taborites  were  almost  Protestants,  keeping  only 
two  sacraments,  that  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  denying  the  Real  Presence,  and  condemn- 
ing the  worship  of  relics  and  the  invocation  of  the 
saints. 

The  two  parties  naturally  differed  in  the  outer 
forms,  the  Calixtines  keeping  all  Catholic  services 
and  observances,  the  Taborites  abolishing  feasts 
and  fasts,  dissolving  monasteries  and  convents,  re- 
pudiating sumptuous  vestments  and  all  the  pomp 
and  ceremony  of  the  mass.  While  they  did  not 
definitely  declare  that  every  layman  was  a  priest, 
they  did  show  themselves  utterly  indifferent  to  all 
external  signs,  tonsure,  costume,  etc.,  which  marked 
the  priest  out  from  other  men.  Every  man  who 
followed  Christ  could  teach  and  preach,  even  with- 
out the  permission  of  the  bishop. 

The  customs  and  manners  of  the  Taborites  was 
very  much  like  that  of  the  Puritans  in  the  days  of 


I50  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

Cromwell.  Indeed  there  is  a  striking  resemblance 
between  these  two  peoples,  rising  in  the  name  of 
religion  and  waging  war  under  the  standard  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  The  manner  of  life  of  the  army 
of  the  Taborites  was  ascetic  to  a  degree;  the  disci- 
pline was  entirely  based  on  religion.  All  trivial 
amusements  were  forbidden,  no  cards  or  dice,  no 
dancing  or  even  music  w^ere  allowed.  The  children 
were  early  taught  to  read,  and  the  entire  people 
were  **Bibelfest."  ^neas  Sylvius  blushed  when  he 
saw  that  while  many  priests  had  never  read  the 
New  Testament,  a  number  even  of  the  Taborite 
women  knew  the  whole  Bible. 

It  is  interesting  to  read  the  picture  of  the  life 
of  these  people  as  given  by  ^neas  Sylvius,  who 
was  one  of  several  ambassadors  sent  to  treat  with 
them  at  their  headquarters  in  Tabor.  "A  most 
remarkable  spectacle  was  now  witnessed,  an  indis- 
criminate rabble,  mostly  composed  of  peasants. 
Although  a  cold  rain-storm  prevailed  at  the  time, 
they  had  no  other  protection  than  a  mere  frock. 
Some  wore  robes  made  of  skins;  some  of  their 
horsemen  had  no  saddles,  some  had  no  bridles,  and 
others  were  without  stirrups.  One  was  booted, 
another  not.  Having  entered  the  town,  we  took 
a  view  of  it,  and  if  I  were  not  to  call  it  a  town 
or  asylum  for  heretics,  I  should  be  at  a  loss  for 
a  name  to  give  it.  On  the  outer  gate  of  the  city 
there  are  two  shields  hung  suspended.  On  one  of 
these  is  a  picture  of  an  angel  holding  a  cup,  which 


The:  Wars  of  tiif:  Hussites.  151 

he  is  represented  as  extending  to  the  people  as  if 
to  invite  them  to  share  in  the  communion.  On 
the  other  there  is  a  portrait  of  Ziska,  who  is  rep- 
resented as  an  old  man  and  entirely  blind.  These 
people  have  no  greater  anxiety  for  anything  than 
to  hear  a  sermon.  Their  place  of  worship  is  built 
of  wood,  and  is  much  like  a  barn;  this  they  call 
their  temple." 

One  of  the  most  curious  things  in  all  this 
strange,  eventful  history  is  the  character  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Hussites,  especially  the  Taborites. 
Huss  himself  was  a  man  of  gentle,  conciliating 
disposition,  was  by  no  means  endowed  with  great 
executive  ability,  and  felt  a  spirit  of  love  and  kind- 
liness towards  even  his  bitterest  enemies.  The 
leader  of  the  forces  of  the  Bohemians,  when  the 
inevitable  struggle  finally  broke  forth,  was  in  many 
respects  more  like  Attila,  the  scourge  of  God,  than 
like  the  man  whose  doctrines  he  maintained  against 
mighty  armies,  by  means  of  fire  and  sword. 
Legend  has  told  over  and  over  again  of  his  cruelty, 
his  thirst  for  vengeance,  his  untiring  sternness 
toward  his  enemies. 

John  of  Trocznow,  surnamed  Ziska,  by  which 
name  he  is  alone  known  in  history,  belonged  him- 
self to  the  people,  and  it  was  this  fact  undoubtedly 
that  helped  to  give  him  his  extraordinary  popu- 
larity. He  was  a  man  of  middle  height,  with  broad 
shoulders,  thick  lips,  and  closely  cropped  hair,  with 
a  long  black  mustache,  after  the  Polish   fashion. 


152  John  Huss:  Thk  Witness. 

His  strange  appearance  was  heightened  by  the  fact 
that  he  only  had  one  eye :  and  this,  too,  he  lost 
later,  so  that  his  last  campaigns  were  carried  on 
while  he  was  totally  blind.  Two  sentiments  filled 
him  with  inflexible  passion — patriotism  and  faith 
in  Hussitism.  As  Palacky  says,  ''He  was  a  fanatic 
and  had  the  unshakable  conviction  of  fanaticism, 
its  intolerance  and  its  unpitying  and  inflexible 
logic." 

Ziska  was  a  military  genius  of  the  highest  order, 
and  it  was  undoubtedly  due  almost  entirely  to  him 
that  the  Bohemians,  during  all  those  long  years  of 
contest  with  nearly  all  Christendom,  never  lost  a 
battle.  Having  no  horses,  he  was  unable  to  fight 
with  the  usual  means  of  warfare  at  that  time,  and 
was  forced  to  rely  entirely  on  infantry.  This  he 
made  so  formidable,  however,  that  his  army  became 
the  object  of  almost  superstitious  terror  on  the 
part  of  his  enemies.  Moved  by  one  common  im- 
pulse, in  perfect  discipline  and  order,  wielding  long 
poles,  fifteen  to  eighteen  feet  in  length,  armed  with 
iron  points  (it  was  only  later  that  he  had  guns 
and  cannon),  they  all  marched  together,  men, 
women,  and  even  children,  toward  the  enemy, 
whom  they  invariably  put  to  flight.  One  invention 
of  Ziska's  especially  proved  successful,  the  mov- 
ing ramparts  formed  of  wagons  bound  together  by 
chains  and  protected  by  boards,  behind  which  the 
shooters  were  hidden.  On  the  march  these  wagons 
proceeded  in  rows  of  twos  and  fours,   each  one 


The  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  153 

carrying  twenty  men.  But  when  the  battle  was 
fought  they  swung  around  into  position  and  formed 
a  barricade,  which  all  the  efforts  of  the  enemy 
were  never  able  to  scale.  Such  was  the  perfect 
instrument  of  warfare  of  Ziska,  and  long  after  his 
death  it  proved  its  invincibility  in  the  hands  of  his 
successors,  the  Greater  and  the  Less  Procopius. 

It  is  not  our  place  here  to  describe  in  detail 
the  terrible  wars  that  swept  over  Bohemia  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  after  the  death  of  Huss.  And 
yet  we  must  cast  at  least  a  fleeting  glance  at  the 
main  currents  of  these  movements,  oftentimes  of 
true  epic  grandeur.  We  have  seen  how  wide  the 
cleft  had  grown  between  the  Roman  Church  and 
Bohemia  after  the  events  at  Constance,  culminating 
as  they  did  in  the  death  of  John  Huss  and  Jerome. 
For  some  time,  however,  events  stood  still,  although 
low^  mutterings  continued  to  be  heard  along  the 
horizon  from  time  to  time. 

The  first  impulse  to  open  hostilities  occurred 
only  when  Pope  Martin  sent  a  legate  to  execute 
the  decree  of  the  Council  and  his  own  Bull.  The 
legate  was  driven  out  of  the  country  by  the  en- 
raged people,  who  now  flocked  from  all  sides  to 
the  standard  raised  by  Ziska.  At  this  crucial  mo- 
ment occurred  the  death  of  King  Wenzel,  and 
another  question,  that  of  the  disposition  of  the 
crown,  came  to  complicate  matters.  There  was 
still  a  large  number  of  conservatives,  who  hoped 
that  by  electing  Sigismund  to  the  throne  they  might 


154  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

make  favorable  conditions  for  their  own  faith.  If 
Sigismund  had  been  a  wise  man,  he  would  have 
seen  how  matters  lay.  But  strong  in  his  own  self- 
confidence,  he  treated  with  contempt  all  negoti- 
ations on  the  basis  of  the  Four  Articles,  declaring 
he  would  govern  Bohemia  as  his  father  had  done; 
that  is,  he  would  make  no  compromise  with  heresy. 

After  this  uncompromising  attitude  on  the  part 
of  Sigismund,  nothing  stood  in  the  way  of  a  bitter 
civil  war.  In  answer  to  the  desire  of  the  emperor, 
Pope  Martin  issued  a  Bull,  March  i,  1420,  in  which 
he  invited  all  Christendom  to  seize  arms,  march 
toward  Bohemia,  and  help  to  destroy  the  Wyclifites, 
Hussites,  and  all  other  heretics,  promising  full  in- 
dulgences to  all  those  who  either  would  take  part 
themselves  or  would  pay  for  a  substitute.  The 
effect  of  the  Bull  throughout  all  Europe  was  ex- 
traordinary ;  volunteers  flowed  in  from  all  lands, 
Poland,  Germany,  France,  England,  and  even 
Spain.  The  army  finally  under  the  orders  of 
Sigismund  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand men. 

In  the  meantime  the  approaching  danger  united 
all  parties  of  the  Hussites  in  defense  of  their  faith. 
Although  a  number  of  cities  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  king,  the  followers  of  Huss  made  their  way  to 
Plague,  where  the  final  and  decisive  combat  was  to 
take  place.  The  city  was  surrounded  and  besieged, 
but  owing  to  the  generalship  of  Ziska  and  the  heroic 
conduct  of  the  Hussites,  especially  the  Taborites, 


The  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  155 

all  efforts  to  take  the  city  were  In  vain.  After 
many  defeats  and  disasters,  the  imperial  army  was 
forced  to  abandon  the  siege  and  retreat.  Thus 
ended  what  Is  known  as  the  First  Crusade  of  the 
Bohemian  wars. 

Bohemia  now  became  the  most  prominent  coun- 
try in  all  Christendom.  The  teachings  of  Huss 
spread  through  all  lands,  while  the  socialistic 
and  republican  doctrines  of  the  Taborltes  threat- 
ened to  undermine  the  very  basis  of  political  au- 
thority in  Europe.  This  fact  was  skillfully  taken 
advantage  of  by  the  pope  In  preaching  a  new  cru- 
sade, for  he  pointed  out  that  not  only  ecclesiastical 
but  monarchical  institutions  were  at  stake. 

A  second  Invasion  was  organized.  Two  hun- 
dred thousand  men  marched  toward  Bohemia,  and 
laid  siege  to  Zatec,  one  of  the  holy  cities  of  the 
Taborltes.  Although  this  city  had  only  five  thou- 
sand or  six  thousand  garrison,  it  repulsed  all  as- 
saults, and  waited  in  confidence  for  the  arrival  of 
re-enforcements.  The  besieging  army  In  the  mean- 
time lost  all  discipline,  spent  their  time  In  foraging 
the  country,  burning  villages,  slaying  every  man, 
woman,  or  child  that  spoke  Bohemian,  irrespective 
of  their  religious  beliefs.  The  Hussites  set  out  from 
Prague  to  assist  their  compatriots  who  were  shut  up 
in  Zatec.  Before  they  could  reach  the  city,  how- 
ever, the  undisciplined  mob  of  mercenaries,  which 
formed  the  imperial  army,  took  fright  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  dreaded  hordes  and  fled.    They  were 


156  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

pursued  by  the  garrison  of  Zatec,  who  slew  thou- 
sands in  their  flight.     This  was  in  October,  1421. 

But  while  this  army  fled  back  towards  Germany, 
the  emperor  himself  with  eighty  thousand  men  in- 
vaded Moravia.  Here  Ziska's  genius  manifested 
itself  in  its  full  power.  By  rapidity  of  movement, 
by  skillful  choice  of  field  of  battle,  by  ingenious 
strategy,  by  untiring  diligence,  he  won  a  complete 
victory  over  his  imperial  adversary.  On  Decem- 
ber 21,  1421,  he  was  attacked  in  an  open  plain,  but 
making  a  rampart  of  carts,  he  repulsed  all  assaults. 
He  himself  left  to  seek  re-enforcements,  and  on  his 
return,  January  6,  1422,  he  attacked  the  enemy,  cut 
their  army  in  two,  and  so  confused  the  emperor  that 
the  latter  lost  his  head  and  turned  to  flight,  followed 
hotly  by  the  Taborites.  Many  thousands  were  slain 
or  perished  by  cold  and  hunger.  In  four  days  of 
combat  Ziska  won  three  battles,  took  two  fortified 
cities,  slew  twelve  thousand  men,  and  made  many 
thousands  prisoners.  Thus  the  Second  Crusade 
ended  as  the  first,  in  complete  disaster  to  the  Cath- 
olic arms. 

In  July,  1422,  another  Crusade  was  ordered  by 
the  Diet  of  Nuremberg,  under  the  command  of 
PVederick  of  Brandenburg;  but  being  deserted  by 
the  emperor  he  accomplished  but  little. 

An  event  now  occurred  which  meant  more  to 
the  Hussites  than  the  loss  of  many  battles,  the 
death  of  Ziska.  As  soon  as  the  foreign  enemies 
had  left  Bohemia  in  peace  for  a  short  period  of 


The:  Wars  oi?  tiik  Hussites.  157 

time,  discord  and  bitter  animosity  filled  the  ranks 
of  the  Hussites.  The  differences  in  religious, 
social,  and  political  views  between  the  Calixtines 
and  the  Taborites  were  too  deep  to  be  easily  recon- 
ciled. While  they  all  agreed  on  the  Four  Articles, 
they  differed  fundamentally  on  nearly  every  other 
point.  With  the  retreat  of  the  Germans  anarchy 
broke  forth  in  Bohemia,  and  so  bitter  became  the 
quarrels  between  the  hostile  parties  that  it  seemed 
as  if  war  alone  could  settle  their  difference. 

At  the  head  of  the  Calixtines  was  Corybut,  at 
the  head  of  the  Taborites  was  Ziska.  The  Calix- 
tines made  preparation  to  defend  Prague  against 
the  Taborites;  but  when  Ziska  with  his  terrible 
army  approached,  the  citizens  of  Prague,  full  of 
terror,  sent  an  embassy  headed  by  John  of  Rocky- 
zane,  who  for  many  years  remained  the  head  of 
the  Calixtines,  to  beg  Ziska  to  save  the  city.  Forced 
by  the  Taborites,  to  whom  Prague  was  a  holy  city, 
Ziska  made  a  treaty  of  peace.  He  did  this  un- 
willingly and  with  a  saddened  heart,  for  he  knew 
it  was  only  putting  off  the  inevitable  conflict.  Soon 
after  he  was  stricken  with  the  plague,  and  died  Oc- 
tober II,  1424. 

His  death  filled  the  whole  army  with  profound 
sorrow  and  desolation.  He  was  buried  at  Caslav, 
and  near  his  tomb  was  made  this  inscription:  ''O 
Huss !  here  lies  John  Ziska,  your  avenger,  and 
the  emperor  himself  has  bent  before  him."  It  is 
said  that  more  than  a  century  afterwards  the  Em- 


158  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

peror  Ferdinand  was  passing  through  the  country, 
and  saw  a  mass  of  iron  hanging  near  a  tomb.  He 
asked  his  courtiers  to  read  the  inscription,  but  they 
dared  not  repeat  it  to  him;  whereupon  he  ap- 
proached and  read  himself  the  name  of  Ziska. 
*'Fie,  Fie !"  said  he ;  "this  ugly  beast,  dead  a  hun- 
dred years,  still  frightens  the  living."  Yet,  al- 
though he  had  intended  to  pass  the  night  in  the 
city,  he  changed  his  mind  and  proceeded  on  his 
way. 

In  the  death  of  Ziska  the  Taborites  had  lost 
the  one  man  who  had  held  together  the  various 
elements  of  which  they  were  composed.  They  now 
fell  asunder,  and  in  addition  to  the  regular  Tabor- 
ites formed  a  new  party,  called  the  Orphans  (al- 
luding to  the  death  of  Ziska),  which  approached 
the  Calixtines  by  their  religious  beliefs,  and  the 
Taborites  by  their  social  ideas.  They  had  their 
separate  chiefs  and  separate  capital ;  in  general, 
however,  they  sided  with  the  Taborites. 

With  the  death  of  Ziska  the  first  period  of  the 
Hussite  wars  ended.  The  Bohemians  had  become 
a  powerful  nation,  had  held  in  check  the  efforts 
of  all  Christendom  marshaled  against  them;  they 
had  shown  the  world  that  they  were  a  power  not 
to  be  despised.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  give 
in  detail  all  the  events  that  followed,  the  skir- 
mishes and  battles  at  home  and  abroad,  the  con- 
stant quarrels  and  discord  that  rent  the  body  of 
Hussites,  and  slowly  prepared  the  dissolution  that 
was  to  come. 


Thk  Wars  oi^  the:  Hussites.  159 

In  the  first  few  years,  however,  after  Ziska's 
death  it  seemed  as  if  the  nation  was  as  strong  as 
ever.  It  is  true  that  the  new  Commander-in-chief, 
Procopius,  was  not  so  great  an  organizer  as 
Ziska,  but  he  had  a  great  many  of  the  latter's 
extraordinary  quaHties  as  a  general  and  strat- 
egist. He  found  a  veteran  army  made  ready  to 
his  hand,  hardened  and  trained  by  many  years 
of  warfare  and  discipHne,  rendered  confident  in  its 
invincibiHty  by  a  series  of  victories  not  broken  by 
a  single  defeat.  This  army  was  used  by  Procopius 
with  distinguished  ability;  he  had  the  same  rapid- 
ity of  movement,  surety  of  glance,  and  boldness 
of  attack  that  had  been  so  characteristic  of  Ziska. 

Yet  the  whole  aim  of  Procopius  was  to  bring 
peace  and  tranquillity  once  more  to  his  native  land. 
He  soon  foresaw,  however,  that  the  best  way  to 
accomplish  this  aim  was  not  to  wait  patiently 
within  the  frontiers  of  Bohemia  until  the  enemy 
could  raise  an  army  and  attack  him,  but  rather  to 
inspire  fear  and  respect  in  the  hearts  of  those 
countries  in  which  the  various  Crusades  had  been 
recruited.  He  hoped  by  ravaging  these  countries 
to  direct  their  attention  from  Bohemia  to  their 
own  territories,  and  thus  possibly  he  might  be  able 
to  make  a  lasting  treaty  of  peace. 

After  having  defeated  a  large  army  of  the 
allies  near  the  city  of  Usti  on  the  Elbe,  and  after 
having  restored  a  momentary  peace  among  the 
discordant  elements  of  the  Hussites,  Procopius  un- 


i6o  John  Huss:  The  Witni^ss. 

dertook  to  carr}^  out  his  plan  of  foreign  invasion 
in  1427.  Since  the  disgraceful  failure  of  the  third 
Crusade  in  1422,  Germany  had  nearly  forgotten 
her  humiliation,  but  she  was  suddenly  brought  to 
a  realizing  sense  of  the  dangerous  condition  of  the 
neighboring  country  of  Bohemia,  by  the  news  of 
a  large  army  of  Hussites  who,  having  crossed  the 
frontiers  of  their  native  land,  were  ravaging  Aus- 
tria, Moravia,  and  Silesia.  A  Diet  was  hastily 
summoned,  April,  1427,  and  it  was  resolved  to 
attack  Bohemia  in  four  armies  at  four  different 
points.  The  commander-in-chief  of  the  combined 
forces  was  the  Cardinal  Legate  Henry  of  Win- 
chester, brother  of  Henry  IV  of  England,  and 
uncle  of  the  Dukes  of  Bedford  and  Gloucester.  The 
army  in  all  was  not  far  from  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  about  equally  divided  between  infantry  and 
cavalry.  They  started  out,  full  of  hope  and  confi- 
dence, they  captured  cities,  laid  waste  the  country, 
and  everywhere  acted  with  their  customary  license 
and  lack  of  discipline.  Against  this  huge  army  of 
mercenaries,  the  Calixtines,  Taborites,  and  Orphans 
— once  more  united,  as  they  always  had  been  when 
foreign  enemies  came  to  threaten  their  native 
land — opposed  a  solid  front  of  well  trained,  well 
discipHned,  and  well  seasoned  veterans. 

They  marched  toward  Stribro,  where  the  enemy 
was  encamped ;  but  scarcely  had  the  Germans  heard 
the  noise  of  the  approaching  Hussites,  than  the 
old  panic  seized  them  once  more,   and  they  fled 


The  Wars  of  the  Hussites.  i6i 

before  even  the  enemy  had  come  within  sight. 
They  were  met  by  Cardinal  Winchester,  who,  ar- 
riving with  re-enforcements,  succeeded  in  check- 
ing their  flight  and  inducing  them  to  turn  back 
and  meet  the  Bohemians,  who  were  far  inferior  in 
numbers.  But  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  ranks  of 
the  Taborites  they  were  again  seized  with  panic, 
and  fled  in  an  irresistible  wave  of  retreat,  which 
swept  everything  along  with  it. 

Rendered  still  more  confident  by  this  victory, 
Procopius  in  the  following  year  carried  on  that 
extraordinary  campaign  throughout  the  various 
lands  of  Germany  that  filled  the  hearts  of  all  men 
with  terror  and  dismay.  All  branches  of  Hussites 
supported  him,  and  took  part  in  these  expe- 
ditions, Calixtines  as  well  as  Orphans  and  Tabor- 
ites. Bands  of  soldiers  were  sent  to  Silesia,  Sax- 
ony, Bavaria,  and  even  France.  They  captured 
great  cities,  burned  villages,  and  everywhere  left 
behind  them  death  and  desolation. 

All  Germany  was  aroused  to  desperate  efforts 
to  meet  this  danger;  the  German  princes  gathered 
an  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  men,  nearly  four 
times  the  size  of  the  Bohemian  forces,  which  never 
amounted  to  more  than  thirty  thousand.  Sigis- 
mund,  who  had  been  busy  with  the  Turks  in  East- 
ern Europe,  now  came  back  after  many  years  of 
absence  from  Germany.  The  Diet  of  Nuremberg, 
held  in  February,  1431,  ordered  a  new  Crusade, 
which  was  preached  by  Pope  Eugene  IV,  the  suc- 
II 


i62  John  Huss:  The  Witness. 

cesser  of  Martin  V.  A  vast  number  of  men  ad- 
vanced towards  the  frontiers  of  Bohemia.  The 
general  command  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Elector 
Frederick  of  Brandenburg.  Yet  they  had  no  gen- 
eral plan  of  action;  they  entered  Bohemia,  devas- 
tated the  fields,  massacred  the  peasants.  No  one 
was  spared,  not  even  the  Catholics.  They  stopped, 
however,  at  the  news  of  the  approach  of  the  Huss- 
ites. On  August  14,  1 43 1,  toward  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  they  heard  the  noise  of  the  chariots 
of  war,  and  the  hymns  sung  by  the  Taborites.  The 
old  scenes  repeated  themselves ;  a  wild  terror  seized 
the  whole  army ;  flinging  away  their  arms  and  all 
other  impediments  they  turned  to  a  mad  flight, 
leaving  behind  them  thousands  of  slain,  and  an 
immense  quantity  of  booty. 

And  now  all  parties  began  to  see  the  uselessness 
of  these  bloody  contests,  which  led  to  no  decisive 
results.  It  was  no  longer  a  question  of  Bohemia 
alone.  All  Europe  was  involved  in  the  mighty 
upheaval.  The  ideas  of  the  Hussites  were  scat- 
tered far  and  wide;  one  of  their  manifestoes  was 
even  found  nailed  to  the  door  of  the  Church  of 
Bale,  where  the  Council  was  in  session.  This  had 
been  written  by  Procopius,  and  produced  an  im- 
mense impression.  Everywhere  in  Germany  re- 
volts among  the  peasantry  occurred,  and  leagues 
were  organized.  A  cry  for  peace  arose  through- 
out all  Europe,  and  the  pope  was  implored  to  make 
all  concessions  not  inconsistent  with  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  Church. 


The:  Wars  of  the:  Hussitks.  163 

On  the  other  hand,  Bohemia  was  utterly  ex- 
hausted;  the  land  was  a  desert,  countless  villages 
were  depopulated.  Although  the  Bohemians  had 
invariably  been  victorious,  multitudes  had  been  slain. 
Hence  when  the  Council  of  Bale  invited  the  PIuss- 
ites  to  send  delegates  with  a  view  to  coming  to  some 
agreement  on  the  subjects  under  dispute,  after 
some  hesitation  all  parties  finally  agreed  to  send 
an  embassy,  among  them  being  Procopius  the 
Great,  leader  of  the  Taborites,  and  Rockyzane, 
head  of  the  Calixtine  party.  It  was  with  strange 
feelings  that  the  inhabitants  of  Bale,  as  well  as 
those  who  had  come  to  attend  the  Council,  awaited 
the  entry  of  these  men,  whose  names  had  become 
legendary  throughout  Europe.  In  the  words  of 
JEneas  Sylvius  (quoted  by  Palacky),  ''They 
streamed  into  the  streets;  women  and  children 
looked  out  of  the  windows  and  pointed  out  with 
their  fingers  the  different  members  of  the  party, 
gazing  with  wonder  at  their  strange  costume,  stern 
faces,  and  wild  eyes.  The  eyes  of  most,  however, 
were  fastened  on  Procopius ;  he  was  the  one  who 
so  often  had  destroyed  the  vast  armies  of  the  faith- 
ful and  slain  so  many  thousands,  feared  by  friends 
as  well  as  enemies,  as  an  unconquered,  bold,  rest- 
less general,  undismayed  in  the  face  of  any  danger." 

It  is  not  the  place  here  to  discuss  the  compli- 
cated negotiations  that  followed;  the  hopes  and 
fears,  the  doubts  and  disgust  of  the  Hussites,  as 
soon  as  it  became  manifest  that  a  satisfactory  solu- 


i64  John  Huss:  Thi:  Witness. 

tion  was  not  yet  to  be.  They  left  Bale  on  April 
14,  1433.  The  Council  sent  a  commission  to 
Prague,  which  did  little  more,  however,  than  se- 
cretly to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  among  the 
various  parties  of  the  Hussites.  These  discords, 
which  had  existed  from  the  very  beginning,  now 
began  to  assume  proportions  so  great  that  the  only 
issue  was  war  between  them.  On  the  one  hand  the 
Calixtines,  supported  by  the  nobles,  were  finally 
agreed  to  accept  the  compromise  proposed  by  the 
Council  of  Bale,  and  which,  while  pretending  to 
yield  to  the  demands  of  the  Hussites,  that  the  Four 
Articles  be  respected,  really  left  a  loophole  of  es- 
cape on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  soon 
as  its  strength  and  the  weakness  of  the  Hussites 
would  permit.  The  Taborites  and  Orphans,  led 
by  Procopius,  opposed  uncompromisingly  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Compactata,  as  the  above  com- 
promise was  called.  New  Prague  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  reactionary  nobles.  Procopius  set 
out  with  his  army  to  lay  siege  to  them.  The  nobles 
with  twenty-five  thousand  men  met  him  near  the 
city  of  Lipau,  where  the  final  battle  of  the  great 
Hussite  wars  was  fought  out  to  the  bitter  end — 
not  this  time  a  battle  between  the  united  party  of 
Bohemians  and  a  foreign  enemy,  but  between  dif- 
ferent members  of  that  party  itself.  For  the  first 
time  the  Taborites  were  defeated ;  sixteen  thousand 
dead  were  left  on  the  field  of  battle,  among  them 
being  the  great  Procopius  himself: 

"Suis  et  ipsa  Roma  viribus  ruit." 


CHAPTER  IX. 
CONCLUSION. 

With  the  battle  of  Lipau  and  the  death  of 
Procopius,  the  Hussite  movement  for  all  practical 
purposes  came  to  an  end.  What  all  the  power  of 
the  papacy  and  the  empire  had  not  been  able  to 
do, — that  is,  to  destroy  the  teachings  of  Huss 
throughout  Bohemia, — now  was  accomplished  by 
internal  discord.  Although  Hussitism  was  not  im- 
mediately crushed  out,  as  the  Albigensians  had 
been,  for  instance,  yet  from  this  time  on  for  two 
hundred  years  we  mark  an  ever  increasing  dimi- 
nution in  its  influence  in  Bohemia  itself,  until  in 
the  early  eighteenth  century  the  last  vestiges  dis- 
appeared forever  from  its  native  soil. 

For  a  long  time  the  Hussites  still  remained 
strong  enough  to  make  a  compromise,  and  Sigis- 
mund  himself  accepted  as  the  basis  of  the  compro- 
mise the  concordat  between  the  Council  of  Bale 
and  the  States  of  Bohemia,. the  Compactata  as  it 
was  called,  which  safeguarded  in  a  certain  sense 
the  Four  Articles,  which  as  we  have  seen  had  from 
first  to  last  formed  the  irreducible  minimum  in  all 
negotiations  on  the  part  of  the  Hussites.  As  we 
165 


i66  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

may  naturally  suppose,  Emperor  Sigismund  paid 
no  attention  to  the  Compactata,  which  were  for- 
mally abolished  by  Pope  Pius  II  (^neas  Sylvius) 
in  1462. 

After  the  death  of  Sigismund  (1437),  we  have 
a  succession  of  kings  of  Bohemia  most  of  whom 
we  may  pass  over,  merely  mentioning  George 
Podiebrad  (who  died  1471)  and  Wladislaus  of  Po- 
land, whose  reign  and  that  of  his  son  Louis  mark 
the  end  of  the  political  and  religious  independence 
of  Bohemia.  Anne,  sister  of  Louis,  who  became 
heir  to  the  crown  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia  by 
marrying  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  grandson  of  Em- 
peror Maximilian,  brought  these  countries  over 
to  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  Since  then  Bohemia 
has  formed  an  integral  part  of  the  Austrian  Em- 
pire. 

Such  in  brief  outline  is  the  political  history  of 
Bohemia  in  the  years  immediately  following  the 
great  events  we  have  been  considering.  Its  relig- 
ious history  is  marked  by  melancholy  interest.  The 
old  bond  of  union  between  Calixtines  and  Tabor- 
ites — patriotism — was  broken  when  Bohemia  lost  its 
freedom.  Both  parties  now  took  on  a  different  de- 
velopment. 

After  many  vicissitudes  the  Calixtines  were 
either  destroyed  by  persecution,  united  with  the 
Catholics,  or  later  merged  with  the  Lutherans. 
After  the  sixteenth  century  all  traces  of  them  dis- 
appeared forever. 


Conclusion.  167 

Not  so  the  Taborites,  however.  Under  another 
name  and  under  changed  behefs  they  still  exist, 
scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  world.  Even  in 
the  midst  of  savage  warfare  many  had  fought  only 
under  necessity,  and  had  longed  for  a  quiet  and 
peaceful  existence,  devoted  to  the  worship  of  God 
and  the  service  of  suffering  humanity.  Now,  when 
all  their  victories  and  all  the  terrible  loss  of  life 
had  apparently  been  in  vain,  the  more  gentle  and 
spiritual  among  them  turned  from  earthly  to  heav- 
enly things.  Some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Walden- 
sians  were  adopted  by  them,  and  soon  a  large  sect, 
called  the  Brethren,  and  later  the  United  Brethren 
(Unitas  Fratrum),  arose,  the  latest  development 
of  which  is  the  Moravian  Church  of  to-day. 

Henceforth  the  attention  of  the  student  of 
Huss's  influence  must  be  directed  chiefly  to  them. 
Their  history  affords  a  monotonous  repetition  of  all 
persecuted  sects ;  the  same  tale  of  slaughter  and  ex- 
ile, brightened  by  the  same  examples  of  heroism  and 
martyrdom,  cheerfully  accepted  for  the  glory  of 
God.  They  were  persecuted  in  1458,  when  Podie- 
brad  became  king;  again  in  1468,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Rockyzane.  In  1523  they  sent  a  commis- 
sion to  Luther  to  give  an  account  of  their  doc- 
trines and  constitution,  at  which  he  was  well 
pleased.  In  1535  Luther  and  Melanchthon  wrote 
to  them  among  other  things  as  follows:  ''Since  we 
are  agreed  in  the  principal  articles  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  let  us  receive  one  another  in  love; 


i68  John  Huss:  The:  Witness. 

nor  shall  any  difference  of  usages  and  ceremonies 
disunite  our  hearts." 

In  1546,  after  Luther's  death,  they  refused  to 
support  Emperor  Charles  V  and  their  own  King 
Ferdinand  against  the  Protestants,  and  were  ac- 
cused of  plotting  to  bring  about  the  election  of  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  to  the  Bohemian  throne,  whence 
a  new  outburst  of  persecution,  during  which  their 
churches  were  closed  and  many  were  imprisoned 
or  banished. 

With  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century 
their  prospects  seemed  to  brighten.  In  1609  Ru- 
dolph II  ratified  the  free  exercise  of  religion  they 
had  received  under  Maximilian,  and  gave  them  the 
privilege  of  erecting  churches  and  choosing  nobles 
to  protect  their  rights.  The  famous  Bethlehem 
Chapel  at  Prague,  in  which  Huss  had  preached,  was 
handed  over  to  them. 

All  this,  however,  was  only  a  deceitful  calm 
before  the  last  dreadful  tempest,  which  was  soon 
to  swoop  down  upon  them  with  destructive  fury. 
Rudolph  died  in  1612,  and  the  universal  plan  of 
persecution  of  the  Protestants  adopted  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  was  begun  in  Bohemia.  The  mass  of 
the  people  were  filled  with  rage;  renounced  their 
allegiance  to  the  new  king,  Ferdinand  II,  flung 
the  imperial  councilors  out  of  the  window,  and 
elected  the  Elector  Palatine,  son-in-law  of  James  I 
of  England,  as  their  king,  and  thus  precipitated 
the   world-historic   contest,   known   as   the   Thirty 


Conclusion.  169 

Years'  War.  The  tide  of  warfare,  however,  soon 
rolled  its  waves  far  from  them,  leaving  the  last  fol- 
lowers of  Huss  in  Bohemia  a  prey  to  the  terrible 
persecutions  that  followed  the  disastrous  defeat  of 
Weissenberg,  near  Prague,  in  1620. 

They  were  flung  into  prison,  put  to  death,  or 
banished.  Their  ministers  hid  themselves  in  for- 
ests, lived  on  the  mountains  and  in  caves,  whence 
stealthily  stealing  forth  from  time  to  time  they 
visited  their  suffering  flock.  Hundreds  of  the 
noble  and  wealthy  families  fled  to  Prussia,  Poland, 
Silesia,  and  even  as  far  as  the  Netherlands.  Among 
the  most  illustrious  of  these  exiles  was  John  Amos 
Comenius,  the  far-famed  scholar  and  writer,  whose 
reputation  went  so  far  as  to  bring  him  an  invita- 
tion to  become  president  of  Harvard  University, 
then  but  recently  founded. 

Of  those  who  remained  in  Bohemia,  mostly  the 
common  people,  we  know  but  little  during  the  suc- 
ceeding years.  They  were  forced  to  conform  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  doubtless  many  remained 
therein,  but  in  the  case  of  many  this  conformity 
was  but  external.  After  the  end  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  they  must  have  lost  all  hope,  for  they 
alone  of  all  the  Protestant  bodies  were  not  included 
in  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  in  1648. 

After  a  long  period  of  utter  silence  we  see 
once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century  an  active  movement 
among  the  Brethren,  or  Moravians,   as  they  are 


I70  John  Huss:  The  Witne^ss. 

better  known  to  us  now.  In  1717  a  large  number 
left  Bohemia  and  went  to  Upper  Lusatia,  where 
they  joined  their  compatriots  who  already  had  set- 
tled there.  L^ater  Christian  David,  tutor  to  the 
Baron  de  Schweinitz,  had  a  meeting  with  Count 
Zinzendorf,  who  was  anxious  for  the  salvation 
of  the  children  of  his  subjects.  The  outcome 
of  this  and  other  conferences  was  the  establish- 
ment of  the  village  of  Herrnhut,  on  the  estate  of 
Zinzendorf,  which  from  that  time  on  became  the 
center  of  the  Moravian  Church  throughout  the 
world.  From  the  very  first,  missions  became  an 
absorbing  part  of  their  work,  and  from  their  desire 
to  save  the  Indians  arose  their  settlements  in 
Georgia,  but  especially  in  Pennsylvania.  To-day 
the  town  of  Bethlehem  in  that  State  is  the  largest 
Moravian  community  in  the  world,  and  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years  has  exerted  a  strong  influence 
on  the  educational  and  religious  life  of  the  United 
States. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  life  of  John  Huss  in 
brief;  have  tried  to  show  his  position  as  summing 
up  certain  evangelical  doctrines  that  had  been  spo- 
radically in  the  minds  of  men  for  centuries,  and 
we  have  tried  to  show  the  vicissitudes  of  his  fol- 
lowers down  to  the  present.  Yet  the  influence  of 
Huss  was  not  only  exerted  upon  his  immediate 
followers;  Martin  Luther  himself  tells  how  great 
that  influence  had  been  on  the  Reformation  which 
he  himself  had  set  in  motion.    ''Existimo  Johannem 


Conclusion.  171 

Huss  suo  sanguine  pcperisse  Evangelium  quod 
nunc  habemus."*  His  place  in  this  world-shaking 
movement  is  well  represented  in  a  miniature  pic- 
ture in  an  old  Moravian  hymn-book  preserved  in 
the  University  Library  at  Prague,  which  repre- 
sents Wyclif  seizing  a  torch,  Huss  lighting  it,  and 
Luther  holding  it  on  high. 

Later  his  followers,  scattered  all  over  Chris- 
tendom, had  no  small  influence  on  the  various 
forms  of  Protestantism.  It  w^as  they  who  gave  a 
distinctly  Pietistic  turn  to  religion  in  the  eight- 
eenth century.  Zinzendorf,  who  was  a  Lutheran, 
soon  became  the  leader  of  the  Moravians,  hold- 
ing some  such  relation  to  them  and  the  Lutheran 
Church  as  Wesley  did  to  the  Methodists  and  the 
Church  of  England.  Nay,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  Methodism  is  largely  the  outcome  of 
Moravianism.  We  never  can  know  what  might 
have  happened  if  John  Wesley  had  not  met  Span- 
genberg  in  Georgia,  and  especially  Peter  Bohler  in 
London.  But  we  do  know  that  it  was  through  them, 
especially  the  latter,  that  he  received  the  blessing 
of  a  heart  religion.  When  he  went  to  Herrnhut, 
where  he  spent  two  weeks  with  Zinzendorf,  he  was 
filled  with  devout  enthusiasm.  "O,"  cried  he,  "that 
this  religion  might  cover  the  earth,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea!" 

But  the  glory  of  John  Huss  is  not  confined  to 


*  In  my  opinion  John  Huss  bought  with  his  own  blood  the  gospel 
which  we  now  possess. 


172  John  Huss:  Thi^  Witness. 

his  influence  on  this  or  that  religious  denomination. 
His  heroic  death  is  the  heritage  of  all  mankind, 
because  he  was  a  witness  of  the  truth  as  he  con- 
ceived it,  and  because,  fortified  by  the  breast-plate 
of  a  clear  conscience,  not  all  the  combined  efforts 
of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire could  make  him  falter  for  a  single  moment. 
At  the  time  it  seemed  an  unequal  contest  between 
this  lonely  man  and  the  mighty  concourse  of  his 
adversaries;  at  the  time  it  seemed  as  if  he  had 
ignominiously  failed.  But  we  know  better  now. 
The  proud  and  contemptuous  hierarchy  of  Rome, 
shorn  of  her  strength,  sits  a  voluntary  prisoner 
within  the  walls  of  the  Vatican.  But  the  right  of 
every  man  to  believe  according  to  his  conscience 
has  spread  from  land  to  land,  until  to-day  Christian 
missionaries  may  penetrate  unharmed  even  into 
the  Forbidden  Kingdom  or  the  impenetrable  re- 
cesses of  Darkest  Africa.  And  no  man  has  done 
more  to  prepare  the  final  triumph  of  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  than  John  Huss. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE. 

The  main  sources  of  the  life  of  John  Huss  are  to  be 
found  in  his  Letters,  in  the  account  of  his  trial  in  Con- 
stance by  Peter  of  Mladenowic,  and  in  Von  der  Hardt's 
Rerum  Concilii  Constantieusis,  tomus  IV  (Frankfort  and 
Leipzig,  1695-99.)  The  Letters  and  Mladenowic's  account 
are  contained  in  the  Opera  et  Monumenta  Hussi,  but  are 
brought  together  in  a  more  convenient  form  by  Palacky,  in 
his  Documenta  Mag.  Johannis  Hus  vitam,  doctrinam, 
causam,  in  Constantiensi  Concilio  actam,  et  controversias 
de  religione  in  Bohemia  annis  1403-1418  motas  illustrantia, 
Prague,  1869. 

Among  other  books  on  the  same  subject  I  may  men- 
tion the  following : 

Palacky — Geschichte  von  Bohmen.     Prague,  i842fF. 

Lenfant— History  of  the  Council  of  Constance.    London, 

1730. 

Neander— Histor}^  of  the  Christian  Religion  and 
Church,  Volume  V.     Boston,  1854. 

Krummel — Geschichte  der  Bohmischen  Reformation. 
Gotha,  1866. 

^Johannes   Hus,   Ein  Lebensbild.     Bale,  1886. 

Stein-Armin— Johannes  Hus,  Ein  Zeit  und  Character- 
bild.     Halle,  1895. 

Gillett— Life  and  Times  of  John  Huss.     Boston,  1863. 

Lechler— Johannes  Hus,  Ein  Lebensbild.     Halle,  1890. 

Bonnechose— Jean  Hus,  Gerson,  Et  le  Concile  de  Con- 
stance.    Paris,  i860. 

173 


174  BlBI^IOGRAPHICAIv   NoTK. 


-Lettres  de  Jean  Hus  .  .  .  traduites  du  Latin 


en  Francais.     Paris. 

Workman  &  Pope — The  Letters  of  John  Hus.  London, 
1904. 

Denis — Huss  et  la  Guerre  des  Hussites.     Paris,  1878. 

Freytag — Bilder  aus  der  Deutschen  Vergangenheit, 
Zweiter  Band,  Erste  Abtheilung.     Leipzig,  1867. 

Liitzow — A  History  of  Bohemian  Literature,  N.  Y.,  1899. 

Blumhardt — Versuch  Einer  Allgemeinen  Missions,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Kirche  Christi,  Band  III.  2,  Bale,  1837. 

Liliencron — Die  Historischen  Volkslieder  der  Deutschen 
vom  I  3bis  16  Jahrhundert,  Band  I.     Leipzig,  1865. 

Thompson — Moravian  Missions.     London,  1883. 

Cranz — History  of  the  Brethren.     London,  1780. 

Uhlmann — Konig  Sigmunds  Geleit  fiir  Hus.  Halle,  1894. 

Juritsch — Der  Dritte  Kreuzzug  gegen  dei  Husiten. 
Vienna,  1900. 

Loserth — Die  Kirchliche,  Reformbewegung  in  England, 
im  XIV  Jahrhundert  und  ihre  Aufnahme  und  Durch- 
fiihrung  in  Bohmen.     Leipzig,  1893. 


BW2116.K96 

John  Huss:  the  witness 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1   1012  00016  6613 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD  #3523PI       Printed 


in  USA 


